Saturday, October 23
Houston, TX
12:00 P.M. CT
Rice University
13-5, 8-0
3
vs
1
Southern Miss
10-14, 2-8
1
2
3
4
F
Southern Miss
11
22
25
14
1
Rice
25
25
23
25
3
Lennon Surpasses 2,000 Kills in Win Over USM
10/23/2021 3:04:00 PM | Women's Volleyball
Owls record eighth straight win
HOUSTON – Just one week after becoming Rice Volleyball's all-time leader in career kills, senior outside hitter Nicole Lennon grabbed even more history by surpassing 2,000 career kills in the Owls' 3-1 victory (25-11, 25-22, 23-25, 25-14) over Southern Miss Saturday afternoon at Tudor Fieldhouse.
Rice (13-5, 8-0) recorded their eighth consecutive victory with another dominant offensive performance, hitting .340 with 64 team kills. Lennon led the way with a 19-kill performance and became just the second active player in NCAA Division I to reach 2,000 career kills towards the back end of the third set. In addition, Lennon is now the only player in the nation with 2,000 career kills and 1,000 career digs.
Joining Lennon in double-figure kills was junior middle blocker Anota Adekunle (12-.455) and freshman outside hitter Sahara Maruska (12-.276), who also registered a career-high 16 digs for her second double-double of the season.
Junior setter Carly Graham totaled 55 assists (13.75 per set) and played a big role in the Owls establishing a 72 percent sideout rate for the match. Junior libero Elizabeth LaBue anchored the back line with a season-high 19 digs, her second-most of her Rice career. Lennon also added 10 digs to complete her 10th double-double of the season.
Postgame Reaction - Head Coach Genny Volpe
"I'm really proud of our offensive effort this weekend. Carly (Graham) had everyone involved which is really helping us reach our goals from that standpoint. We are continuing to work on some defensive aspects of our game and to make faster adjustments but overall I'm really pleased with this weekend's play."
HOW IT HAPPENED
First Set
Rice never trailed in an impressive 25-11 victory in which the outhit USM, .448-.111. Adekunle led the Owls with five kills on six attacks and Graham assisted on 13 of Rice's 15 kills. The Owls committed just two attack errors on 29 attacks.
Second Set
The Golden Eagles rallied late to trim a once 14-7 Rice lead down to 21-20 but the Owls closed strong to win 25-22. Lennon tallied seven kills on 15 attacks in the frame and defensively the Owls had a pair of team blocks while taking advantage of eight USM attack errors.
Third Set
USM led throughout most of the game, eventually holding off a Rice rally to win 25-23. Lennon added seven more kills in the set, including the 2000th of her illustrious career, but the Golden Eagles held on to force a fourth set.
Fourth Set
The Owls bounced back with a convincing 25-14 victory to clinch the match as Rice hit .387 as a team with seven different players registering a kill. Rice also held USM to a .000 hitting percentage, allowing just seven kills.
UP NEXT
The Owls make their final road appearance of the C-USA regular season next weekend for a pair of matches at UAB, Oct. 29-30. Both matches will be streamed on CUSAtv.
Rice (13-5, 8-0) recorded their eighth consecutive victory with another dominant offensive performance, hitting .340 with 64 team kills. Lennon led the way with a 19-kill performance and became just the second active player in NCAA Division I to reach 2,000 career kills towards the back end of the third set. In addition, Lennon is now the only player in the nation with 2,000 career kills and 1,000 career digs.
Joining Lennon in double-figure kills was junior middle blocker Anota Adekunle (12-.455) and freshman outside hitter Sahara Maruska (12-.276), who also registered a career-high 16 digs for her second double-double of the season.
Junior setter Carly Graham totaled 55 assists (13.75 per set) and played a big role in the Owls establishing a 72 percent sideout rate for the match. Junior libero Elizabeth LaBue anchored the back line with a season-high 19 digs, her second-most of her Rice career. Lennon also added 10 digs to complete her 10th double-double of the season.
"I'm really proud of our offensive effort this weekend. Carly (Graham) had everyone involved which is really helping us reach our goals from that standpoint. We are continuing to work on some defensive aspects of our game and to make faster adjustments but overall I'm really pleased with this weekend's play."
First Set
Rice never trailed in an impressive 25-11 victory in which the outhit USM, .448-.111. Adekunle led the Owls with five kills on six attacks and Graham assisted on 13 of Rice's 15 kills. The Owls committed just two attack errors on 29 attacks.
Second Set
The Golden Eagles rallied late to trim a once 14-7 Rice lead down to 21-20 but the Owls closed strong to win 25-22. Lennon tallied seven kills on 15 attacks in the frame and defensively the Owls had a pair of team blocks while taking advantage of eight USM attack errors.
Third Set
USM led throughout most of the game, eventually holding off a Rice rally to win 25-23. Lennon added seven more kills in the set, including the 2000th of her illustrious career, but the Golden Eagles held on to force a fourth set.
Fourth Set
The Owls bounced back with a convincing 25-14 victory to clinch the match as Rice hit .387 as a team with seven different players registering a kill. Rice also held USM to a .000 hitting percentage, allowing just seven kills.
UP NEXT
The Owls make their final road appearance of the C-USA regular season next weekend for a pair of matches at UAB, Oct. 29-30. Both matches will be streamed on CUSAtv.
-RiceOwls.com-
Team Stats
USM
RICE
Kills
46
64
Errors
22
16
Attempts
154
141
Hitting %
.156
.340
Points
53.0
77.0
Assists
44
61
Aces
4
6
Blocks
3.0
7.0
Game Leaders
Kills-Aces-Blocks
Kills
19
Aces
2
Blocks
2
Kills
12
Aces
0
Blocks
1
Kills
12
Aces
0
Blocks
3
Kills
9
Aces
0
Blocks
2
Players Mentioned
MB
/ Women's Volleyball
S
/ Women's Volleyball
DS/L
/ Women's VolleyballOH
/ Women's VolleyballOH
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