SAN ANTONIO ? UTSA kicks off its 26th season of play this weekend when it travels to Houston for the Mizuno Invitational at Rice University. The Roadrunners open the campaign on Friday morning with 10 a.m. match against tournament host Ricebefore concluding play the following day with contests against Michigan(11 a.m.) and Louisiana-Lafayette (4:30 p.m.).
The tournament will take place at Fox Gymnasium due to ongoing renovations at Autry Court and live audio will not be available this weekend. However, fans can follow all the action through CBS College Sports' GameTracker at riceowls.com.
A talented group of eight newcomers ? five true freshmen and threetransfers ? join a cast of seven returning letterwinners who sawsignificant playing time for seventh-year head coach Laura Neugebauer-Groff during last year's 13-win campaign. Heading the list of returnees is sophomore outside hitter Kendra Rowland, who is a preseason first-team All-Southland Conference selection. Rowland started every match a year ago, ranked fourth in the league in kills per game(3.81) and led the squad in attacks (1,285) and service aces (28) inaddition to being second in digs (386).
Rice posted a 13-17 overall mark last season, but 11 letterwinners return this fall, including five starters, for fifth-year head coach Genny Volpe. The Owls hold a commanding 10-1 edge in the all-time series with UTSA. The Roadrunners snapped a 10-match losing streak to Rice in the last meeting, a 3-2 victory on Sept. 2, 2006, at the Holiday Inn Select/Rice Invitational.
Michigan, 24-11 overall a year ago, is coming off its most successful season in programhistory after a trip to the NCAA Tournament Round of 16. However, three of the most prolific players in schoolhistory have departed. An outstandinggroup of newcomers, including a pair of state Players of the Year(freshmen Sloane Donhoff and Courtney Fletcher) and the 2006 AVCA Two-Year Colleges Player of the Year (junior transfer Juliana Paz), are expected to fill the void. Saturday's contest is the first all-time matchup between the two schools.
Louisiana-Lafayette looks to rebound from a 4-29 campaign in 2007. First-year head coach Heather Mazeitis is no stranger to the Roadrunners, as she has faced the Birds each of the last two campaigns as the coach of Louisiana Tech. UTSA has won the previous two meetings with ULL, both sweeps, and Saturday will be the first matchup between the programs in nearly a decade.
