Saturday, November 10
Miami, FL
12:00 p.m. CT
Rice University
-216, 122 CUSA
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at
3
FIU
-1711, 95 CUSA
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2
3
4
F
RICE
24
22
25
22
1
FIU
26
25
18
25
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Photo by: Maria Lysaker - Rice Athletics
FIU Defeats Owls in Regular Season Finale
11/10/2018 6:33:00 PM | Women's Volleyball
Owls turn eyes towards C-USA Tournament next week
MIAMI, Fla. – The Rice Owls volleyball team dropped their second match of the weekend with a four set loss (24-26, 22-25, 25-18, 22-25) at FIU Saturday afternoon.
Rice (21-6, 12-2) lost for a second straight match for just the second time this season despite a match-high 23 kills from sophomore outside hitter Nicole Lennon, who also added 11 digs for her team-leading 17th double-double of the season.
Senior outside hitter Shelby Livingstone also recorded a double-double with 11 kills and 15 digs and was joined in double-figure kills by middles Grace Morgan (12 kills) and Anota Adekunle (10 kills)
Freshman setter Carly Graham set a season-high with 40 assists to go along with nine digs. Defensively, junior libero Lee Ann Cunningham led all players with 22 digs, her 10th match with 20 or more digs this season.
The Owls outhit FIU (17-11, 9-5) by a .239-.223 margin, and collected more digs (71-66) and team blocks (14.0-9.0).
The Panthers had four players record 10 or more kills, led by 14 strikes from Nina Petranovic.
RICE HEAD COACH GENNY VOLPE
Postgame Reaction…
"We knew this weekend was going to be tough. Both FAU and FIU have solid teams and executed well against us. Today, we had too slow of a start and once again had to battle back. It took too long for our offense to get going and defensively we got stronger, but it was inconsistent. We had opportunities to close out sets one and two and didn't get it done. However, we're not going to be defeated after this, only stronger and more focused heading into the C-USA Tournament."
HOW IT HAPPENED
Set 1
Rice fell behind 16-9 in the opening set before making a huge 16-5 run to tie the frame 22-22 on one of Morgan's five kills in the set. The Panthers then took a 24-22 advantage before Rice saved set point twice on a kill from Lennon and a combo block by Graham/Adekunle. However, FIU recorded back-to-back kills to win 26-24.
Set 2
In almost a carbon copy of set one, the Owls dug themselves out of an early 13-8 hole to pull to within 21-20 late, but FIU outscored Rice 4-2 down the stretch to win 25-22. Morgan, Lennon, Adekunle, and Livingstone all had three kills apiece in the set.
Set 3
Rice's offense woke up in set three, hitting .359 as a team with 19 kills on 39 attacks while limiting FIU to a .162 clip. Rice broke open a 15-13 lead by outscoring FIU 10-5 the rest of the way to win 25-18 and force a fourth set.
Set 4
FIU was able to put the match away in the fourth frame by using a 7-4 run to win 25-22. Lennon was an unstoppable force for the Owls, recording 10 kills on 21 attacks in the set, but the Panthers hit .268 as a team and took advantage of seven attack errors from the Owls.
UP NEXT
The Owls will face the Charlotte 49ers on ESPN+ in the quarterfinals of the C-USA Tournament, which will take place on Friday, Nov. 16 with a time to be determined on Sunday. To keep tabs on all things Rice Volleyball, be sure to visit www.RiceOwls.com and follow @RiceVolleyball on Twitter for more information.
-RiceOwls.com-
Rice (21-6, 12-2) lost for a second straight match for just the second time this season despite a match-high 23 kills from sophomore outside hitter Nicole Lennon, who also added 11 digs for her team-leading 17th double-double of the season.
Senior outside hitter Shelby Livingstone also recorded a double-double with 11 kills and 15 digs and was joined in double-figure kills by middles Grace Morgan (12 kills) and Anota Adekunle (10 kills)
Freshman setter Carly Graham set a season-high with 40 assists to go along with nine digs. Defensively, junior libero Lee Ann Cunningham led all players with 22 digs, her 10th match with 20 or more digs this season.
The Owls outhit FIU (17-11, 9-5) by a .239-.223 margin, and collected more digs (71-66) and team blocks (14.0-9.0).
The Panthers had four players record 10 or more kills, led by 14 strikes from Nina Petranovic.
Postgame Reaction…
"We knew this weekend was going to be tough. Both FAU and FIU have solid teams and executed well against us. Today, we had too slow of a start and once again had to battle back. It took too long for our offense to get going and defensively we got stronger, but it was inconsistent. We had opportunities to close out sets one and two and didn't get it done. However, we're not going to be defeated after this, only stronger and more focused heading into the C-USA Tournament."
Set 1
Rice fell behind 16-9 in the opening set before making a huge 16-5 run to tie the frame 22-22 on one of Morgan's five kills in the set. The Panthers then took a 24-22 advantage before Rice saved set point twice on a kill from Lennon and a combo block by Graham/Adekunle. However, FIU recorded back-to-back kills to win 26-24.
Set 2
In almost a carbon copy of set one, the Owls dug themselves out of an early 13-8 hole to pull to within 21-20 late, but FIU outscored Rice 4-2 down the stretch to win 25-22. Morgan, Lennon, Adekunle, and Livingstone all had three kills apiece in the set.
Set 3
Rice's offense woke up in set three, hitting .359 as a team with 19 kills on 39 attacks while limiting FIU to a .162 clip. Rice broke open a 15-13 lead by outscoring FIU 10-5 the rest of the way to win 25-18 and force a fourth set.
Set 4
FIU was able to put the match away in the fourth frame by using a 7-4 run to win 25-22. Lennon was an unstoppable force for the Owls, recording 10 kills on 21 attacks in the set, but the Panthers hit .268 as a team and took advantage of seven attack errors from the Owls.
The Owls will face the Charlotte 49ers on ESPN+ in the quarterfinals of the C-USA Tournament, which will take place on Friday, Nov. 16 with a time to be determined on Sunday. To keep tabs on all things Rice Volleyball, be sure to visit www.RiceOwls.com and follow @RiceVolleyball on Twitter for more information.
-RiceOwls.com-
Team Stats
RICE
FIU
Kills
62
57
Errors
23
22
Attempts
163
157
Hitting %
.239
.223
Points
79.0
70.0
Assists
58
57
Aces
3
4
Blocks
14.0
9.0
Game Leaders
Kills
23
Aces
0
Blocks
4
Kills
12
Aces
0
Blocks
4
Kills
11
Aces
0
Blocks
3
Kills
10
Aces
0
Blocks
8
Players Mentioned
MB
/ Women's Volleyball
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/ Women's Volleyball
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/ Women's VolleyballOH
/ Women's VolleyballOH
/ Women's VolleyballMB
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