SAN ANTONIO ? The UTSA volleyball team looks to improve upon its 1-2 record this weekend when it travels north to play in the Baylor Classic in Waco. Originally slated to play three matches in the tournament, the Roadrunners now will play two contests on both Friday and Saturday due to the addition of Rice to the field All four can be heard live on goUTSA.com and Baylor will provide live stats at baylorbears.com.
Laura Neugebauer-Groff's squad will open tournament play against Rice (3-1) for the second weekend in a row in a match that is slated for 9:30 a.m. The Owls were added to the field on Tuesday after their originally-scheduled trip to Baton Rouge, La., for the LSU Tigers Classic was canceled due to Hurricane Gustav. Rice swept UTSA by scores of 25-13, 25-15 and 25-18 last Friday at the Mizuno Invitational at Rice University and increased its edge in the all-time series to 11-1.
The Roadrunners will wrap up their first day of action at 2:30 p.m. against San Diego State. The Aztecs enter the tournament with a 1-2 record after last weekend's Aztec Invitational. San Diego State returns eight letterwinners and four starters from last year's team that posted a 13-16 mark The two programs have met once, a three-set sweep by the Aztecs on Sept. 18, 1993.
UTSA takes on tournament host Baylor at 10:30 a.m. on Saturday. The Bears are off to a perfect start to the campaign after running through three matches in the season-opening Baylor Invitational last weekend. Baylor swept SMU and Prairie View A&M before defeating Texas State in four games. The match will be the 18th all-time meeting between the two schools, first since Oct. 31, 2004, and Baylor holds a commanding 13-4 edge.
The Birds wrap up play at 5 p.m. against Weber State (3-1) later that evening. After being swept by Arizona in the season opener, the Wildcats have reeled off three consecutive victories against Gardner-Webb, San Jose State and Utah State. Saturday will mark the second year in a row that the two programs have met in a preseason tournament and the fourth all-time. Weber, which posted a three-set victory last fall at the North Florida Labor Day Classic (Aug. 31), has swept all three previous matchups.
Sophomore outside hitter Kendra Rowland's second season in navy blue and orange got off to a strong start last weekend, as she was named to the Mizuno Invitational's All-Tournament Team after averaging 3.33 kills per set to go along with 22 digs and a pair of service aces. Freshman outside hitter Elise Huskey racked up 21 winners while hitting 22.8 percent and also collected 25 digs. Meanwhile, sophomore setter Jordan White handed out 40 assists and freshman Kelsey Jewasko posted a team-best 37 digs.
