Rice University
2-1
Texas Tech
3-0
Red Raiders Slip Past Owls in Five Sets
8/25/2018 4:53:00 PM | Women's Volleyball
Lennon, Morgan named to All-Tournament Team
"It was disappointing to have such a lack of offensive production. When you're siding out in the 40-percent range like we were in those last three sets that's not going to be good enough to beat many teams. We definitely need to focus on our consistency. There were a lot of things that we can take from this tournament that were extremely positive but this match should have been taken care of. The team knows that, our staff knows that but all we can do is focus on the next practice to clean up our side. We just didn't take advantage of the opportunities to score. Our serve/receive struggled a little bit, but even in that situation I wanted us to fight harder to put Tech in a tougher situation and they just did a better job with that than us today."
Set 1
The Owls led start-to-finish in a 25-22 opening set victory over the Red Raiders despite hitting just .065 for the game. On the flip side, Tech hit just .071 percent. Morgan led all players with four kills in the set while Shelby Livingstone and Lee Ann Cunningham had six digs apiece.
Set 2
Rice's offense came alive in the second set, capitalizing with a hitting percentage of .372 to take a 2-0 match lead with a 25-15 victory. Lennon was nearly unstoppable with eight kills on 16 attacks and junior setter Adria Martinez and freshman setter Carly Graham combined for 16 assists.
Set 3
With new found life, Tech carried their momentum into set three en route to a match-tying 25-18 win, despite six kills from Morgan in the frame. Rice trailed nearly throughout in the set despite tying things up on three separate occasions.
Set 4
The Owls managed to erase an early 3-0 deficit to take a 7-6 lead in the match-deciding final set but the Red Raiders' run of 9-2 proved too much for Rice to overcome.
Congratulations to Nicole Lennon and @stiltssss on being named to the Red Raider Classic All-Tournament Team! #GoOwls👐 pic.twitter.com/BuOqQ9lR8U
— Rice Volleyball (@RiceVolleyball) August 25, 2018
MATCH HIGHLIGHTS
• Sophomore outside hitter Nicole Lennon and junior middle blocker Grace Morgan were each named to the Red Raider Classic All-Tournament Team. The duo each recorded a match-high 18 kills on Saturday and combined for 41.5 points.
• For the weekend, Lennon totaled a team-best 52 kills (4.33 per set) on 127 attacks with a team-high 60.5 points. The Katy, Texas native also notched her first double-double of the season on Saturday with 15 digs to go along with the 18 kills.
• Morgan's weekend totals included 34 kills (3.09 per set) while hitting a team-high .422. She also led all Owls with 13 blocks (1.18 per set) and totaled 42.0 points.
• Freshman setter Carly Graham is becoming a double-double machine, making it a perfect 3-for-3 on the weekend with 33 assists and 10 digs for her third career double-double.
• Junior libero Lee Ann Cunningham led all players with 26 digs and posted 58 total digs for the weekend.
• After missing all of last season due to injury, senior outside hitter Shelby Livingstone just missed out on a double-double on Saturday with eight kills and 18 digs. The Malibu, Calif. native also posted a Rice season-high three aces.
Rice returns to Houston for their home-opening Rice Adidas Invitational I tournament next Friday-Saturday, Aug. 31-Sept. 1. The Owls will host South Carolina (Aug. 31), Liberty (Sept. 1) and Houston Baptist (Sept. 1). For more information on the six-match tournament, be sure to visit www.RiceOwls.com for times and ticket information.
-RiceOwls.com-
