Volleyball Returns Home for Series vs. Southern Miss

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Women's Volleyball

vs Temple

Sep 26

6 PM

Houston, Texas

Women's Volleyball

vs Tulsa

Sep 28

2 PM

Houston, Texas

Women's Volleyball

at UAB

Oct 3

7 PM

Birmingham, Ala.

Women's Volleyball

at Memphis

Oct 5

1 PM

Memphis, Tenn.

Women's Volleyball

vs South Florida

Oct 10

6 PM

Houston, Texas

Women's Volleyball

at UTSA

Oct 12

1 PM

San Antonio, Texas

Women's Volleyball

at Tulane

Oct 15

6:30 PM

Matches 17/18 | vs. Southern Miss Golden Eagles (10-12, 2-6) | Saturday/Sunday, Oct. 22/23, 6/12 p.m.
Location: Houston, Texas (Tudor Fieldhouse)
Buy Tickets: Friday | Saturday
Video Stream: Friday (CUSAtv) | Saturday (CUSAtv)
Live Stats: Friday (Sidearm) | Saturday (Sidearm)
Series: Rice leads, 18-9 (Last Meeting: Rice won (3-0), 2/16/21)

Promotions: Friday's match will be our annual Dig Pink match to help support breast cancer research. All fans are encouraged to wear pink and the team has an active fundraiser in conjunction with the Side-Out Foundation HERE.

**Fans will be required to wear masks and practice physical distancing while observing this weekend's matches.

SETTING THE SCENE
The Owls (11-5, 6-0) enter this weekend riding high on a six-match winning streak as they sit atop the C-USA West Division standings. Rice has won 18 of 21 sets played within league play and are hitting .311 as a team over their last six matches with nearly 15 kills per set.

Rice owns an 18-9 lead in the all-time series against the Golden Eagles and have won the previous four meetings, including a 2-0 sweep last spring.

Southern Miss is currently in the midst of a four-match losing streak and are 0-6 on the road this season. Freshman outside hitter Mia Wesley ranks 13th in the NCAA in total kills (315) and is sixth in total attacks (911). Kansas State transfer Kenzie Smith is fifth in the NCAA with 826 assists and averages 9.95 assists per set, which ranks third in C-USA.

NOTES

The Owls are receiving votes for an eighth straight week in the latest AVCA Coaches' Poll.
Rice ranks 23rd in the most recent RPI rankings, tops among all C-USA programs.
Dating back to 2014 the Owls are 86-20 (.811) in Conference USA play, which includes a 41-3 (.931) record the last three seasons. Rice has won 20 consecutive C-USA regular season contests dating back to the 2019 season.
The Owls currently rank in the Top-25 in the country in four different statistical areas: kills per set (12th-14.14), assists per set (16th-13.07), hitting percentage (24th-.265), and digs per set (16.77).
Last weekend senior outside hitter Nicole Lennon (1,976 career kills) became Rice's all-time leader in career kills by notching her 1,970th career kill in Saturday's victory at Louisiana Tech. Lennon surpassed Rice Hall of Famer Rebeca Pazo (1,969 kills; 2001-04) with a match-high 20 kills and broke the record at the backend of the second set. Pazo established the record in 404 sets while Lennon surpassed her in her 475th frame.
Lennon ranks third among active NCAA Division I players in career kills with 1,976, trailing only Baylor's Yossiana Pressley (2,193) and Utah's Dani Drews (1,979). This season Lennon ranks 21st in the NCAA in kills per set (4.37) and is 23rd in attacks per set (11.74).
Junior middle blocker Anota Adekunle ranks 16th in the NCAA this season in hitting percentage (.422) and has hit .400 or better in five consecutive matches. Adekunle continues to rank fourth among all active NCAA Division I players in career hitting pecentage (.409).
Junior setter Carly Graham is second among C-USA players in assists per set (10.78), which ranks 20th in the NCAA.
The Owls played a rigorous non-conference schedule, facing four teams ranked in the Top-11, including No. 1 Texas and No. 2 Pittsburgh.

-RiceOwls.com-

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