Friday, September 28
Houston, TX
6:00 pm CT
Rice University
11-4, 2-0
3
vs
1
UTSA
10-5, 2-1
1
2
3
4
F
UTSA
25
15
21
18
1
Rice
21
25
25
25
3
Photo by: Maria Lysaker - Rice Athletics
Owls Keep Rolling, Defeat UTSA for Fifth Straight Win
9/28/2018 9:08:00 PM | Women's Volleyball
Rice picks up four-set victory over Roadrunners
HOUSTON – Four Owls collected 10 or more digs and three players registered double-doubles in a four-set victory (21-25, 25-15, 25-21, 25-18) over the UTSA Roadrunners Friday evening at Tudor Fieldhouse.
Rice (11-4, 2-0) won their fifth match in a row overall and improved to 8-1 at home on the season with a stellar defensive effort against the Roadrunners (10-5, 2-1), holding UTSA to a season-low hitting percentage of .105 while collecting 85 team digs and 8.5 team blocks.
Owls' sophomore outside hitter Nicole Lennon collected her team-leading seventh double-double of the year with a match-high 15 kills along with a season-high 18 digs. Senior outside hitter Shelby Livingstone registered her second double-double of the year with 10 kills and 15 digs while freshman setter Carly Graham notched her sixth double-double of the season with 25 assists and 10 digs.
Junior libero Lee Ann Cunningham led all players with 27 digs, while Lennon (18), Livingstone (15 digs) and Graham (10 digs) all secured double-figure digs. Rice also got an offensive spark from junior Tori Woogk, with the Fort Worth, Texas native contributing 12 kills on 20 attacks (.450).
RICE HEAD COACH GENNY VOLPE
"We get to play them (UTSA) twice every season and it was no different than we thought it would be; a battle. I thought they (UTSA) came out and executed at a very high level right out of the gate, passing well and finding their middles. We started serving a little bit more aggressively, which took them out of system a little bit, but this was a hard match and they're a tough team. I think our team really wanted this win and there was a lot of emotion. We may have been trying a little too hard in the first set, but they calmed down, got re-focused on what our game plan was. UTSA did a good job of taking our middles out early, but we shifted gears and that allowed Shelby to come alive and she had a great match. There always seems to be someone different each night that will step up for us."
HOW IT HAPPENED
Set 1
UTSA controlled much of the first set and never trailed after taking an 8-7 lead despite five kills apiece from Lennon and Woogk. Rice outhit UTSA by a margin of .316-.308 but the Owls had three service errors and Tara Keal led all players with seven kills in a 25-21 Roadrunners victory.
Set 2
Rice flipped the script in the second frame with a stingy defensive performance, holding UTSA to a -.022 hitting percentage and taking advantage of nine Roadrunner errors. The Owls used a 12-4 run midway through the set to take a demanding 19-8 lead on their way to a 25-15 victory. Rice used a balanced scoring attack with four players recording three kills apiece.
Set 3
Rice carried their momentum out of the break to take the all-important third frame, 25-21. Neither team gained much traction with 11 ties in the set, including an 18-18 standoff. But from that point on the Owls outscored UTSA 7-3 and the team rallied behind a spurt from sophomore Kassidy Muse, who recorded a kill, a block, and another kill in succession to put the Owls up for good 21-18.
Set 4
The Owls put the match away with a 25-18 victory in set four and jumped on UTSA early by gaining a 10-3 lead. In the fourth set alone, Livingstone was unstoppable with eight kills on 14 attacks (.500) while Lennon notched nine digs. Rice hit .324 as a team in the frame and UTSA committed seven errors as the Owls prevailed for their fifth straight win.
MATCH NOTES
• The Owls five-match win streak is the team's longest since their eight straight wins last year, which stretched from Sept. 24-Oct. 22.
• Junior libero Lee Ann Cunningham moved into sixth place on the Rice all-time digs list with 1,381 career digs. Next up is Jennifer McClean (5th-1,388) and Leigh Leman (4th-1,394).
UP NEXT
The Owls hit the road for the first time since Sept. 11 for a key C-USA showdown at reigning league champion WKU (12-5, 3-0) on Sunday, Sept. 30. First serve is set for 12 p.m. For ticket information and links, be sure to visit www.RiceOwls.com and @RiceVolleyball on Twitter.
-RiceOwls.com-
Rice (11-4, 2-0) won their fifth match in a row overall and improved to 8-1 at home on the season with a stellar defensive effort against the Roadrunners (10-5, 2-1), holding UTSA to a season-low hitting percentage of .105 while collecting 85 team digs and 8.5 team blocks.
Owls' sophomore outside hitter Nicole Lennon collected her team-leading seventh double-double of the year with a match-high 15 kills along with a season-high 18 digs. Senior outside hitter Shelby Livingstone registered her second double-double of the year with 10 kills and 15 digs while freshman setter Carly Graham notched her sixth double-double of the season with 25 assists and 10 digs.
Junior libero Lee Ann Cunningham led all players with 27 digs, while Lennon (18), Livingstone (15 digs) and Graham (10 digs) all secured double-figure digs. Rice also got an offensive spark from junior Tori Woogk, with the Fort Worth, Texas native contributing 12 kills on 20 attacks (.450).
"We get to play them (UTSA) twice every season and it was no different than we thought it would be; a battle. I thought they (UTSA) came out and executed at a very high level right out of the gate, passing well and finding their middles. We started serving a little bit more aggressively, which took them out of system a little bit, but this was a hard match and they're a tough team. I think our team really wanted this win and there was a lot of emotion. We may have been trying a little too hard in the first set, but they calmed down, got re-focused on what our game plan was. UTSA did a good job of taking our middles out early, but we shifted gears and that allowed Shelby to come alive and she had a great match. There always seems to be someone different each night that will step up for us."
Set 1
UTSA controlled much of the first set and never trailed after taking an 8-7 lead despite five kills apiece from Lennon and Woogk. Rice outhit UTSA by a margin of .316-.308 but the Owls had three service errors and Tara Keal led all players with seven kills in a 25-21 Roadrunners victory.
Set 2
Rice flipped the script in the second frame with a stingy defensive performance, holding UTSA to a -.022 hitting percentage and taking advantage of nine Roadrunner errors. The Owls used a 12-4 run midway through the set to take a demanding 19-8 lead on their way to a 25-15 victory. Rice used a balanced scoring attack with four players recording three kills apiece.
Set 3
Rice carried their momentum out of the break to take the all-important third frame, 25-21. Neither team gained much traction with 11 ties in the set, including an 18-18 standoff. But from that point on the Owls outscored UTSA 7-3 and the team rallied behind a spurt from sophomore Kassidy Muse, who recorded a kill, a block, and another kill in succession to put the Owls up for good 21-18.
Set 4
The Owls put the match away with a 25-18 victory in set four and jumped on UTSA early by gaining a 10-3 lead. In the fourth set alone, Livingstone was unstoppable with eight kills on 14 attacks (.500) while Lennon notched nine digs. Rice hit .324 as a team in the frame and UTSA committed seven errors as the Owls prevailed for their fifth straight win.
• The Owls five-match win streak is the team's longest since their eight straight wins last year, which stretched from Sept. 24-Oct. 22.
• Junior libero Lee Ann Cunningham moved into sixth place on the Rice all-time digs list with 1,381 career digs. Next up is Jennifer McClean (5th-1,388) and Leigh Leman (4th-1,394).
The Owls hit the road for the first time since Sept. 11 for a key C-USA showdown at reigning league champion WKU (12-5, 3-0) on Sunday, Sept. 30. First serve is set for 12 p.m. For ticket information and links, be sure to visit www.RiceOwls.com and @RiceVolleyball on Twitter.
-RiceOwls.com-
Team Stats
UTSA
RICE
Kills
47
55
Errors
29
14
Attempts
171
156
Hitting %
.105
.263
Points
59.0
65.5
Assists
44
49
Aces
7
2
Blocks
5.0
8.5
Game Leaders
Kills
15
Aces
0
Blocks
2
Kills
12
Aces
0
Blocks
2
Kills
10
Aces
1
Blocks
3
Kills
6
Aces
0
Blocks
3
Players Mentioned
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/ Women's Volleyball
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/ Women's VolleyballOH
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/ Women's Volleyball
OPP
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