Sunday, February 28
San Antonio, TX
1:00 P.M. CT
Rice University
-83,70 CUSA
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UTSA
-38,14 CUSA
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Rice
28
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UTSA
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Photo by: Maria Lysaker
Owls Outlast Roadrunners for 7th Straight Win
2/28/2021 4:22:00 PM | Women's Volleyball
Rice remains unbeaten in C-USA
SAN ANTONIO – The Rice Owls volleyball team took down the UTSA Roadrunners in five hard-fought sets (28-26, 25-21, 25-27, 25-27, 15-1) on Sunday afternoon at the Convocation Center in what proved to be a defensive juggernaut.
Rice (8-3, 7-0) remained in first place in the Conference USA West standings by winning their second five-set match of the season. The Owls took the first two games before UTSA rallied back to force a fifth and decisive set, which Rice ultimately won.
Rice senior outside hitter Nicole Lennon just missed out on a 20-20 performance with a match-high 19 kills and a season-high 19 digs. Lennon was one of four Owls who registered double-figure kills, which included junior middle blocker Anota Adekunle (15 kills-.433), sophomore pin Ellie Bichelmeyer (career-high 14 kills), and sophomore middle blocker Satasha Kostelecky (career-high 10 kills-.368).
Junior setter Carly Graham posted her second match of the season with 53 assists while freshman Nia McCardell led all players with 23 digs.
The Owls outhit UTSA (3-8, 1-4) by a margin of .188-.128 and outgained the Roadrunners in kills (66-58), aces (8-6), digs (84-79) and blocks (11-8).
POSTGAME REACTION
Rice Head Coach Genny Volpe
"It was in general an off day for us. We had some miscues on offense that led to some hesitation. Inevitably we hit for a low percentage and had to really battle all day. Fortunately, we found a way to grind out a win against a very competitive and scrappy UTSA team."
HOW IT HAPPENED
Set 1
Rice fell behind by as much as 20-10 before displaying a comeback for the ages, outscoring UTSA 18-6 the rest of the way for a 28-26 victory. The Owls held serve on two separate UTSA sets points before scoring the final three points of the set, including a game-clinching ace from Elizabeth LaBue. Lennon posted six kills in the set while Bichelmeyer added five more on nine attacks.
Set 2
Rice controlled much of the second game before UAB closed the gap to 22-20. However, the Owls scored three consecutive points to win 25-20 following a kill from Graham and consecutive errors by the Blazers. The Owls hit .355 as a team in the set, led by seven kills from Maruska on nine attacks. Adekunle came alive with five kills in the set on 10 attacks while Lennon and Bichelmeyer also contributed four kills apiece.
Set 3
UTSA rallied from a 23-20 deficit to force a fourth set with a 27-25 victory. Rice hit .000 as a team for the frame and were undone by 10 attack errors.
Set 4
The Roadrunners carried that momentum over into game four and led for a majority of the set. UTSA held a 24-21 advantage and the Owls held serve on three straight possessions, tying the score at 24-24 following an ace from Izzy Rawlings. However, UTSA outscored Rice 3-1 the rest of the way for a 27-25 victory.
Set 5
The Owls never trailed in the fifth frame after jumping out to a 6-1 lead. Rice spread the wealth offensively with six different Owls tallying kills while holding UTSA to a .000 hitting clip in a 15-10 win.
Up Next
The Owls will face the Roadrunners once more tomorrow afternoon at 1 p.m. on CUSAtv.
Rice (8-3, 7-0) remained in first place in the Conference USA West standings by winning their second five-set match of the season. The Owls took the first two games before UTSA rallied back to force a fifth and decisive set, which Rice ultimately won.
Rice senior outside hitter Nicole Lennon just missed out on a 20-20 performance with a match-high 19 kills and a season-high 19 digs. Lennon was one of four Owls who registered double-figure kills, which included junior middle blocker Anota Adekunle (15 kills-.433), sophomore pin Ellie Bichelmeyer (career-high 14 kills), and sophomore middle blocker Satasha Kostelecky (career-high 10 kills-.368).
Junior setter Carly Graham posted her second match of the season with 53 assists while freshman Nia McCardell led all players with 23 digs.
The Owls outhit UTSA (3-8, 1-4) by a margin of .188-.128 and outgained the Roadrunners in kills (66-58), aces (8-6), digs (84-79) and blocks (11-8).
Rice Head Coach Genny Volpe
"It was in general an off day for us. We had some miscues on offense that led to some hesitation. Inevitably we hit for a low percentage and had to really battle all day. Fortunately, we found a way to grind out a win against a very competitive and scrappy UTSA team."
Set 1
Rice fell behind by as much as 20-10 before displaying a comeback for the ages, outscoring UTSA 18-6 the rest of the way for a 28-26 victory. The Owls held serve on two separate UTSA sets points before scoring the final three points of the set, including a game-clinching ace from Elizabeth LaBue. Lennon posted six kills in the set while Bichelmeyer added five more on nine attacks.
Set 2
Rice controlled much of the second game before UAB closed the gap to 22-20. However, the Owls scored three consecutive points to win 25-20 following a kill from Graham and consecutive errors by the Blazers. The Owls hit .355 as a team in the set, led by seven kills from Maruska on nine attacks. Adekunle came alive with five kills in the set on 10 attacks while Lennon and Bichelmeyer also contributed four kills apiece.
Set 3
UTSA rallied from a 23-20 deficit to force a fourth set with a 27-25 victory. Rice hit .000 as a team for the frame and were undone by 10 attack errors.
Set 4
The Roadrunners carried that momentum over into game four and led for a majority of the set. UTSA held a 24-21 advantage and the Owls held serve on three straight possessions, tying the score at 24-24 following an ace from Izzy Rawlings. However, UTSA outscored Rice 3-1 the rest of the way for a 27-25 victory.
Set 5
The Owls never trailed in the fifth frame after jumping out to a 6-1 lead. Rice spread the wealth offensively with six different Owls tallying kills while holding UTSA to a .000 hitting clip in a 15-10 win.
The Owls will face the Roadrunners once more tomorrow afternoon at 1 p.m. on CUSAtv.
-RiceOwls.com-
Team Stats
Rice
UTSA
Kills
66
58
Errors
32
34
Attempts
181
187
Hitting %
.188
.128
Points
85
72
Assists
61
58
Aces
8
6
Blocks
11
8
Game Leaders
Kills
19
Aces
2
Blocks
3
Kills
15
Aces
2
Blocks
4
Kills
14
Aces
0
Blocks
4
Kills
10
Aces
0
Blocks
5
Players Mentioned
MB
/ Women's VolleyballOH
/ Women's Volleyball
S
/ Women's VolleyballMB
/ Women's Volleyball
DS/L
/ Women's VolleyballOH
/ Women's Volleyball
L
/ Women's Volleyball
S
/ Women's VolleyballVB: Rice-Texas Postgame Presser
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VB: Rice-San Diego Postgame Presser
Thursday, December 02