Rice University
UTSA
Block This Way: Owls Win Seventh Straight
10/20/2017 12:00:00 AM | Women's Volleyball
HOUSTON – For the seventh time this season, the Rice Owls volleyball team found a way to win a fifth set. Rice (17-5, 7-1) rallied from a 2-1 deficit on Friday to defeat the UTSA Roadrunners in five frames (23-25, 25-12, 29-31, 25-22, 15-6) for their seventh consecutive win overall and ninth straight at home.
"That was a tough match and we knew it was going to be, it always is against UTSA," Rice head coach Genny Volpe said. "I was a little disappointed after the first set because we really let one go. But on the positive side, what I'm excited about is we're showing we can rebound despite putting ourselves in holes. We're working to get to a point where we can get a lead and put a team away faster. But we knew this was going to be a battle."
It was a banner night in many ways for the Owls, who moved into sole possession of second place in the Conference USA standings. Senior setter Madison McDaniel, who recorded a double-double with 40 assists and 19 digs, eclipsed the 3,000 career assists plateau and moved into sixth place in Rice history.
The Owls also recorded a season-high 27.0 team blocks, the most by any team in NCAA Division I this season entering play on Friday.
Of those 27 blocks, sophomore middle blocker Grace Morgan contributed 13 of her own, which tied Terri Loewenthal, Libra Taylor, and Tessa Kuykendall for the second-most blocks by an Owl in a single match. In addition to the 13 blocks, Morgan tied Portia Okafor for a team-best 13 kills while hitting .440. Okafor nearly recorded a double-double as well, finishing with nine blocks.
Rice led for a majority of the first set, only to see UTSA rally from an 18-14 deficit to win 25-23. In set two the Owls took control from the onset, grabbing an 11-4 lead before winning 25-12.
The two teams played an absolute classic third set, one in which Rice rallied from a 24-21 deficit to take a 25-24 lead before the two teams exchanged blow for blow on the scoreboard. The Owls withstood three set points before UTSA took a 2-1 match lead with consecutive kills to win 31-29.
UTSA led late in set four, 21-19, but a pair of Morgan kills and three Roadrunner attack errors propelled Rice to a 25-22 win and forced a fifth set. The Owls carried that momentum into set five, jumping out to a 5-0 lead and never looked back, winning 15-6 and taking the match 3-2.
The Owls will go their eighth straight win on Sunday (1 p.m.) when they host UTEP in the annual Dig Pink.
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