Posted on: Tuesday, October 19, 2004
First-year coach Volpe has Rice cooking after early loss
By Ann Miller
Advertiser Staff Writer
Hours after her team's last loss — a heartbreaker one month ago — Rice rookie coach Genny Volpe realized how wise the Owls had grown.
The Owls have won their last 11 as they arrive for a WAC match Thursday against third-ranked and unbeaten Hawai'i. Their 18-2 start is uncharted volleyball territory around the Rice campus.
Volpe, hired for her first head coaching job in February, knew she had inherited something special soon after her team let a 28-24 fourth-game advantage get away against Minnesota.
"The very next day we beat LMU and North Carolina in three," Volpe recalls. "That was a huge statement for our team, and to this staff. We knew they let it go. They could have let it haunt them, got frustrated or lost confidence, but they did the opposite."
Volpe's influence has helped immensely, according to Mililani graduate Amber Wiedemann. The Rice sophomore, and backup middle blocker, says her team has rallied around Volpe's "fired-up" personality.
Wiedemann also points to the Minnesota loss as a defining moment — "We saw that we actually can compete at that level."
WHERE: Stan Sheriff Center
WHO: No. 3 Hawai'i (16-0, 6-0 WAC) vs. Rice (18-2, 7-0 WAC) Thursday, and Tulsa (13-6, 2-5) Friday
WHEN: 7 p.m.
TV/RADIO: Live on KFVE (5)/KKEA (1420 AM) TICKETS: $14 lower level and $11 (adults), $8 (seniors 65-older), $6 (students 4-18) and $3 (UH students) upper level
PARKING: $3 Even the Minnesota loss at Chapel Hill has become a blessing.
"Their expectations of themselves increased," Volpe says. "They hold each other to a higher standard. That's been the big difference — how much they demand of themselves and each other. We push them very hard, but from that tournament they made the decision that this is something we can do — play at this extremely high level."
So, Hawai'i finally has the WAC opponent it has craved since Brigham Young left the conference after the 1998 season. The 'Bows have not lost to a WAC team since, and have rarely been challenged over 96 matches of domination and demolition.
Now the Owls offer a rare midseason peek into Hawai'i's postseason future. They have the balance the 'Bows will have to beat in the NCAA Tournament, and one of the country's premier players in Rebeca Pazo. They also have her twin sister, Olaya.
Both teams come in at the top of their division and without a WAC loss. Thursday's winner has the inside track for the No. 1 seed at the conference tournament next month. A Rice victory would almost surely give it its first national ranking.
There is a lot at stake. When was the last time that could be said of a WAC volleyball match, at least by the 'Bows?
• Rebeca and Olaya Pazo played on Venezuela's national team. Rebeca needs seven kills to tie the Rice career record of 1,830. Reach Ann Miller at amiller@honoluluadvertiser.com or 525-8043.
After falling in five to then-No. 1 Minnesota at the Carolina Classic, Rice ripped through North Carolina the next afternoon and 20th-ranked Loyola Marymount that night.
She sees Thursday's match as another. So does Volpe, who insists she has made only "moderate changes" in the Rice team. It was the players who set a goal of winning the WAC. They have "done all the right things" since to reach it, Volpe says.
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