Volleyball Set To Close Out Regular Season

Nov. 11, 2014

The Owls host their final two games of the regular season this weekend, beginning Thursday with Marshall at 6 p.m., followed by Senior Day against C-USA leading UTSA on Saturday at 1 p.m.
Saturday will mark the final home match for seniors Daniela Arenas, Lizzy Bache and Jillian Humphrey. The trio will be honored with a ceremony prior to the game on Saturday. Humphrey ranks 3rd in Rice history in block assists (401) and total blocks (493), 4th in blocks solo (92), 5th in hitting % (.295) and 13th in career kills (1,135). Arenas will leave Rice ranked 2nd in career digs (1,673) and digs per set (3.78). Bache has compiled 643 kills and 179 blocks in 336 sets played for her career.
Rice has already clinched a berth in the C-USA Tournament and a win on Thursday would guarantee lock them in to the No. 3 seed. The C-USA Tournament begins on Nov. 21 in Hattiesburg, Miss.
The Owls are 7-5 all-time against Marshall and will be playing the Thundering Herd for the first time this season. Marshall has won four of their last five matches but is coming off a 3-0 loss at home to WKU.
Rice will be playing UTSA for the second time this season when the two teams meet on Saturday. UTSA rallied from a 2-1 deficit to beat the Owls in five sets back on Oct. 19 despite a season-high 18 kills from Leah Mikesky.

Weekend Storylines

Rice recorded their 13th, 20-win season in school history and the fourth in the Genny Volpe era. The Owls 21-7 mark through 28 matches is the best since Rice went 25-3 in 2004.
Genny Volpe enters this weekend just two wins shy of 200 for her career. In her 11th season, Volpe has compiled a career record of 198-137 with a career winning percentage of .591, both of which rank as the best in school history.
In the latest RPI rankings of the season the Owls come in at No. 75, behind Western Kentucky (44) and UTSA (72) amongst all C-USA squads.
The Owls have 14 shutouts in 2014, the most by a Rice team since the Owls had 13 in 2009.
Jillian Humphrey is one just five Owls to have over 1,000-plus career kills (1,135) and 400-plus career blocks (493). Humphrey is only 7 blocks away from joining Tessa Kuykendall as the only players in Rice history to have 1,000-plus kills and 500-plus blocks.

Calendar