Thursday, November 8
Boca Raton, FL
6:00 pm CT
Rice University
-215. 121 CUSA
2
at
3
Florida Atlantic
-206, 103 CUSA
1
2
3
4
5
F
RICE
21
24
25
25
12
2
Florida Atlantic
25
26
15
13
15
3
Photo by: Maria Lysaker - Rice Athletics
Owls Fall in Five Sets at FAU
11/8/2018 9:18:00 PM | Women's Volleyball
Finish C-USA regular season Saturday at FIU
BOCA RATON, Fla. – Despite a valiant comeback effort, the Rice Owls volleyball team lost for the first time in 58 days and saw their 15-match win streak come to a close with a five-set (21-25, 24-26, 25-15, 25-13, 12-15) loss at Florida Atlantic Thursday evening.
Rice (21-5, 12-1) nearly rallied from an 0-2 deficit for a third time during the winning streak but FAU closed the final set on a 7-3 run to win their school record 14th straight home match.
The Owls outhit FAU (20-6, 10-3) by a margin of .331-.223 and also posted more digs (77-62) and blocks (12.0-11.0).
Rice was led offensively by sophomore outside hitter Nicole Lennon, who posted a match-high 21 kills on 45 attacks (.378). Junior middle blocker Grace Morgan also had double-figure kills (10) and was one of five Owls with at least three blocks, tallying four rejections. Five Owls hit .300 or better for the match.
Setters Adria Martinez (27 assists/11 digs) and Carly Graham (27 assists/7 digs) combined to average 10.8 assists per set and junior libero Lee Ann Cunningham led all players with 24 digs.
RICE HEAD COACH GENNY VOLPE
Postgame Reaction…
"This was a battle from start to finish. We got our backs up against the wall and then our team really rallied. Statistically we had a pretty clean match and executed our offense at a high level. We just need to clean up the little things against a solid team like FAU or they will make you pay. Overall this was an extremely competitive match between two really good teams."
HOW IT HAPPENED
Set 1
Rice managed to build up a 16-12 advantage but FAU used a 5-1 run to pull even 17-17. From that point on FAU outscored Rice 8-4 to claim the opening set, 25-21.
Set 2
After 11 ties and five lead changes, FAU broke a 24-24 tie by scoring the final two points to win 26-24 and take a 2-0 match lead. Rice hit just .100 for the set in the loss.
Set 3
Rice came out of the break a team on a mission, winning in convincing style by a 25-15 margin. The Owls hit a sensational .536 for the set while holding FAU to a .189 clip. Rice never trailed in the set and Lennon led the way with seven kills.
Set 4
Riding their newfound momentum, Rice steamrolled FAU 25-13 in set four to even the match 2-2. Rice once again hit over. 500 for the frame and never let FAU get back in the game after taking a 14-7 lead.
Set 5
The two teams played to five ties and three lead changes in the final set and FAU took a 13-9 lead late. However, Rice refused to go away quietly, scoring three straight points to pull to within 13-12 on back-to-back kills from Morgan and Lennon's 21st strike. FAU though scored the final two points to clinch the match.
UP NEXT
The Owls close out the C-USA season on Sunday at FIU (12 p.m. CT). To keep tabs on all things Rice Volleyball, be sure to visit www.RiceOwls.com and follow @RiceVolleyball on Twitter for more information.
Rice (21-5, 12-1) nearly rallied from an 0-2 deficit for a third time during the winning streak but FAU closed the final set on a 7-3 run to win their school record 14th straight home match.
The Owls outhit FAU (20-6, 10-3) by a margin of .331-.223 and also posted more digs (77-62) and blocks (12.0-11.0).
Rice was led offensively by sophomore outside hitter Nicole Lennon, who posted a match-high 21 kills on 45 attacks (.378). Junior middle blocker Grace Morgan also had double-figure kills (10) and was one of five Owls with at least three blocks, tallying four rejections. Five Owls hit .300 or better for the match.
Setters Adria Martinez (27 assists/11 digs) and Carly Graham (27 assists/7 digs) combined to average 10.8 assists per set and junior libero Lee Ann Cunningham led all players with 24 digs.
Postgame Reaction…
"This was a battle from start to finish. We got our backs up against the wall and then our team really rallied. Statistically we had a pretty clean match and executed our offense at a high level. We just need to clean up the little things against a solid team like FAU or they will make you pay. Overall this was an extremely competitive match between two really good teams."
Set 1
Rice managed to build up a 16-12 advantage but FAU used a 5-1 run to pull even 17-17. From that point on FAU outscored Rice 8-4 to claim the opening set, 25-21.
Set 2
After 11 ties and five lead changes, FAU broke a 24-24 tie by scoring the final two points to win 26-24 and take a 2-0 match lead. Rice hit just .100 for the set in the loss.
Set 3
Rice came out of the break a team on a mission, winning in convincing style by a 25-15 margin. The Owls hit a sensational .536 for the set while holding FAU to a .189 clip. Rice never trailed in the set and Lennon led the way with seven kills.
Set 4
Riding their newfound momentum, Rice steamrolled FAU 25-13 in set four to even the match 2-2. Rice once again hit over. 500 for the frame and never let FAU get back in the game after taking a 14-7 lead.
Set 5
The two teams played to five ties and three lead changes in the final set and FAU took a 13-9 lead late. However, Rice refused to go away quietly, scoring three straight points to pull to within 13-12 on back-to-back kills from Morgan and Lennon's 21st strike. FAU though scored the final two points to clinch the match.
The Owls close out the C-USA season on Sunday at FIU (12 p.m. CT). 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
FAU
Kills
68
66
Errors
18
26
Attempts
151
179
Hitting %
.331
.223
Points
87.0
81.0
Assists
64
64
Aces
7
4
Blocks
12.0
11.0
Game Leaders
Kills-Aces-Blocks
Kills
21
Aces
1
Blocks
3
Kills
10
Aces
1
Blocks
4
Kills
9
Aces
0
Blocks
3
Kills
8
Aces
0
Blocks
7
Players Mentioned
L
/ Women's Volleyball
S
/ Women's VolleyballOH
/ Women's Volleyball
S
/ Women's VolleyballMB
/ Women's VolleyballVB: Rice-Texas Postgame Presser
Saturday, December 04
VB: Rice-San Diego Postgame Presser
Thursday, December 02