Friday, September 21
Houston, TX
6:00 p.m. CT
Rice University
3
vs
0
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UTEP
Photo by: Maria Lysaker
Volleyball Defeat UTEP in Straight Sets
9/21/2018 8:17:00 PM | Women's Volleyball
Owls win C-USA opener
HOUSTON – The Owls turned the page on the non-conference season by winning their Conference USA opener in dominant fashion Friday evening at Tudor Fieldhouse, defeating the UTEP Miners in a sweep (25-14, 25-18, 25-14) four their fourth consecutive win overall.
Rice (10-4, 1-0) improved to 7-1 at home this season by outhitting the Miners (3-10, 0-1) .461-.083, with four Owls hitting .500 or better individually.
Freshman middle blocker Anota Adekunle established a season-high with 11 kills all while hitting .846 (11-of-13), the fourth-highest hitting percentage (minimum 10 attempts) in a single match in school history and the best ever by a Rice freshman.
In addition to Adekunle, sophomore outside hitter Nicole Lennon picked up where she left off after being named the C-USA Co-Offensive Player of the Week on Tuesday. The Katy, Texas native led all players with 12 kills on 19 attacks (.526) and collected 11 digs for her team-leading seventh double-double of the season. Junior middle blocker Grace Morgan (7 kills-.500) and sophomore outside hitter Kassidy Muse (8 kills-.667) also hit .500 or better.
RICE HEAD COACH GENNY VOLPE
"The team was pretty sharp tonight. Our offense was really clicking and I thought the setters did another great job and got our middles involved early. It was very good to see us come out strong and focused."
On starting C-USA season strong:
"Our non-conference schedule really proved to be beneficial. I feel like our team is very well prepared for C-USA play. We had a strong start and will enjoy it tonight. And then next week we'll have to prepare for two tough matches against UTSA and WKU. We've got a lot of work left to do but I'm very happy with today's result."
HOW IT HAPPENED
Set 1
The Owls controlled the opening set by hitting .700 as a team and posting 14 kills by six different players. Adekunle had four kills on five attacks (.800) to go along with three blocks in the frame. Morgan and Lennon added three kills apiece as the Owls converted a sideout rate of 86 percent.
Set 2
Rice led start-to-finish in a 25-18 victory with Adekunle registering six more kills on six attacks while Lennon had five kills on eight attacks. Defensively the Owls held the Miners to a .026 hitting percentage and took advantage of eight Miners errors.
Set 3
The Owls put the match away by using a 10-2 run to open up an 18-8 advantage with Lennon recording four kills during that span. Senior Shelby Livingstone closed the match strong with four kills in the set, as did Muse, and Rice hit .412 as a team in the 25-14 match-sealing triumph.
MATCH NOTES
• During the Owls four-match winning streak the team has hit .300 or better as a team, and .400 or better in the last three, including a .461 performance on Friday.
• Junior setter Adria Martinez led all players with 24 assists, her ninth performance of 20+ assists this season and seventh straight overall.
• Junior libero Lee Ann Cunningham led all players with 16 digs and now has 1,107 career digs, inching closer to entering the top-10 in Rice history (10th-Rebekah Neal-1,190).
UP NEXT
The Owls conclude their five-match homestand with a C-USA showdown against UTSA on Friday, Sept. 28 at 6 p.m., before heading out on the road to take on the reigning C-USA champion WKU Lady Toppers on Sept. 30. For ticket information and links, be sure to visit www.RiceOwls.com and @RiceVolleyball on Twitter.
-RiceOwls.com-
Rice (10-4, 1-0) improved to 7-1 at home this season by outhitting the Miners (3-10, 0-1) .461-.083, with four Owls hitting .500 or better individually.
Freshman middle blocker Anota Adekunle established a season-high with 11 kills all while hitting .846 (11-of-13), the fourth-highest hitting percentage (minimum 10 attempts) in a single match in school history and the best ever by a Rice freshman.
In addition to Adekunle, sophomore outside hitter Nicole Lennon picked up where she left off after being named the C-USA Co-Offensive Player of the Week on Tuesday. The Katy, Texas native led all players with 12 kills on 19 attacks (.526) and collected 11 digs for her team-leading seventh double-double of the season. Junior middle blocker Grace Morgan (7 kills-.500) and sophomore outside hitter Kassidy Muse (8 kills-.667) also hit .500 or better.
"The team was pretty sharp tonight. Our offense was really clicking and I thought the setters did another great job and got our middles involved early. It was very good to see us come out strong and focused."
On starting C-USA season strong:
"Our non-conference schedule really proved to be beneficial. I feel like our team is very well prepared for C-USA play. We had a strong start and will enjoy it tonight. And then next week we'll have to prepare for two tough matches against UTSA and WKU. We've got a lot of work left to do but I'm very happy with today's result."
Set 1
The Owls controlled the opening set by hitting .700 as a team and posting 14 kills by six different players. Adekunle had four kills on five attacks (.800) to go along with three blocks in the frame. Morgan and Lennon added three kills apiece as the Owls converted a sideout rate of 86 percent.
Set 2
Rice led start-to-finish in a 25-18 victory with Adekunle registering six more kills on six attacks while Lennon had five kills on eight attacks. Defensively the Owls held the Miners to a .026 hitting percentage and took advantage of eight Miners errors.
Set 3
The Owls put the match away by using a 10-2 run to open up an 18-8 advantage with Lennon recording four kills during that span. Senior Shelby Livingstone closed the match strong with four kills in the set, as did Muse, and Rice hit .412 as a team in the 25-14 match-sealing triumph.
• During the Owls four-match winning streak the team has hit .300 or better as a team, and .400 or better in the last three, including a .461 performance on Friday.
• Junior setter Adria Martinez led all players with 24 assists, her ninth performance of 20+ assists this season and seventh straight overall.
• Junior libero Lee Ann Cunningham led all players with 16 digs and now has 1,107 career digs, inching closer to entering the top-10 in Rice history (10th-Rebekah Neal-1,190).
The Owls conclude their five-match homestand with a C-USA showdown against UTSA on Friday, Sept. 28 at 6 p.m., before heading out on the road to take on the reigning C-USA champion WKU Lady Toppers on Sept. 30. For ticket information and links, be sure to visit www.RiceOwls.com and @RiceVolleyball on Twitter.
-RiceOwls.com-
Players Mentioned
MB
/ Women's Volleyball
L
/ Women's Volleyball
OH
/ Women's Volleyball
OH
/ Women's Volleyball
S
/ Women's Volleyball
MB
/ Women's Volleyball
OPP
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