Friday, August 27
Columbia, S.C.
4:00 P.M. CT
Rice University
0-1
2
vs
3
No. 9 Pittsburgh
1-0
1
2
3
4
5
F
Rice
14
25
19
25
14
2
Pittsburgh
25
18
25
19
16
3
Photo by: Maria Lysaker
Owls Fall in Five Sets to No. 9 Pittsburgh
8/27/2021 7:51:00 PM | Women's Volleyball
Rice faces South Carolina Saturday at 9 a.m.
COLUMBIA, S.C. – The No. 23 Rice Owls volleyball team played the No. 9 Pittsburgh Panthers to five thrilling sets in the season-opener Friday afternoon but were unable to complete the comeback in a 3-2 loss (14-25, 25-18, 19-25, 25-19, 14-16) at the South Carolina Classic.
The match saw a total of 21 ties and nine lead changes. Pitt (1-0) outhit Rice (0-1) by a slim margin of .210-.203 but outgained the Owls in total kills (61-53) and service aces (8-3). Rice held an advantage in both digs (78-70) and total team blocks (10.0-8.0).
Rice senior outside hitter Nicole Lennon led all players with 19 kills to go along with 12 digs while junior setter Carly Graham also recorded a double-double with 35 assists and a career-high 19 digs. Rice junior middle blocker Anota Adekunle totaled 11 kills on 19 attacks (.526) and led all players with five blocks while freshman libero Nia McCardell notched 18 digs.
The Panthers had four players register double-figure kills, led by 16 from Kayla Lund.
Postgame Reaction- Head Coach Genny Volpe
"Today's match was everything that we knew it would be and then some. Pitt is such a strong team, both on the offensive and defensive side. We knew we were going to have to perform at a high level to beat them. Although we ended up on the losing side of today's match there were many positives. We held a really strong offensive team to a much lower hitting efficiency than they normally attack. They return all of their offense from last year's Elite 8 squad, so we knew our block and defense were going to be key, and they were. I think we even walked away knowing we could have executed that part of the game better, which is exciting.
Although the match started out a little rough, once we settled in we started performing at the level that I knew we could. It took a while for our offense to start clicking, which we'll need to change in order to execute early in a match like this.
Something that really stood out was our fight and our grit when our backs were up against the wall. We could have folded in those situations but we did not. We continued to battle and try to make really strong adjustments. But we also had opportunities to finish, and we did not in the end. This will help us grow and get stronger the next time we face this type of adversity. I'm confident about that. We're not at all satisfied with this loss, however we can truly see the depth of our potential when we were literally one point away from a quality Top-10 win. Now, we must recover for a tough South Carolina team."
HOW IT HAPPENED
First Set
Pitt came out of the gates firing on all cylinders offensively, hitting .556 with 16 kills on 27 attacks. Four different Panthers posted three or more kills while the Owls managed a hitting percentage of just .083 in a 25-14 setback.
Second Set
Rice picked themselves off the mat with an impressive 25-18 victory to knot the match 1-1. Freshman Sahara Maruska gave the Owls a spark with five kills on 11 attacks (.455) while Lennon totaled four kills on seven attempts (.429). Graham orchestrated a Rice offense that hit .355 in the victory.
Third Set
The Panthers recaptured the match lead by defeating the Owls 25-19 out of the break. The Owls hit just .143 as a team with nine kills while Pitt totaled 14 kills and posted a sideout clip of 78 percent. Three different Panthers posted four kills apiece.
Fourth Set
Lennon came alive with a set-best seven kills on 15 attacks (.333) and Rice never trailed after capturing a 9-8 advantage, eventually winning 25-19. The Owls broke a 19-19 tie by scoring the game's final six points. The Rice defense shined, holding Pitt to a .000 hitting clip and forcing nine errors. McCardell totaled seven digs while Graham and Maruska added six digs apiece.
Fifth Set
The Owls led for a majority of the set and held match point, 14-13, but saw the Panthers reel off the final three points to secure the match with a 16-14 victory. Lennon totaled three kills in the game while Adekunle and Graham added two kills apiece. Pitt hit .318 for the game while the Owls hit .238.
UP NEXT
The Owls will have a short turnaround as they face host South Carolina on Saturday at 9 a.m. (CT). The Gamecocks are coming off a 3-2 win over No. 18 Washington State on Friday. The match will be streamed on SEC Network+.
The match saw a total of 21 ties and nine lead changes. Pitt (1-0) outhit Rice (0-1) by a slim margin of .210-.203 but outgained the Owls in total kills (61-53) and service aces (8-3). Rice held an advantage in both digs (78-70) and total team blocks (10.0-8.0).
Rice senior outside hitter Nicole Lennon led all players with 19 kills to go along with 12 digs while junior setter Carly Graham also recorded a double-double with 35 assists and a career-high 19 digs. Rice junior middle blocker Anota Adekunle totaled 11 kills on 19 attacks (.526) and led all players with five blocks while freshman libero Nia McCardell notched 18 digs.
The Panthers had four players register double-figure kills, led by 16 from Kayla Lund.
Postgame Reaction- Head Coach Genny Volpe
"Today's match was everything that we knew it would be and then some. Pitt is such a strong team, both on the offensive and defensive side. We knew we were going to have to perform at a high level to beat them. Although we ended up on the losing side of today's match there were many positives. We held a really strong offensive team to a much lower hitting efficiency than they normally attack. They return all of their offense from last year's Elite 8 squad, so we knew our block and defense were going to be key, and they were. I think we even walked away knowing we could have executed that part of the game better, which is exciting.
Although the match started out a little rough, once we settled in we started performing at the level that I knew we could. It took a while for our offense to start clicking, which we'll need to change in order to execute early in a match like this.
Something that really stood out was our fight and our grit when our backs were up against the wall. We could have folded in those situations but we did not. We continued to battle and try to make really strong adjustments. But we also had opportunities to finish, and we did not in the end. This will help us grow and get stronger the next time we face this type of adversity. I'm confident about that. We're not at all satisfied with this loss, however we can truly see the depth of our potential when we were literally one point away from a quality Top-10 win. Now, we must recover for a tough South Carolina team."
HOW IT HAPPENED
First Set
Pitt came out of the gates firing on all cylinders offensively, hitting .556 with 16 kills on 27 attacks. Four different Panthers posted three or more kills while the Owls managed a hitting percentage of just .083 in a 25-14 setback.
Second Set
Rice picked themselves off the mat with an impressive 25-18 victory to knot the match 1-1. Freshman Sahara Maruska gave the Owls a spark with five kills on 11 attacks (.455) while Lennon totaled four kills on seven attempts (.429). Graham orchestrated a Rice offense that hit .355 in the victory.
Third Set
The Panthers recaptured the match lead by defeating the Owls 25-19 out of the break. The Owls hit just .143 as a team with nine kills while Pitt totaled 14 kills and posted a sideout clip of 78 percent. Three different Panthers posted four kills apiece.
Fourth Set
Lennon came alive with a set-best seven kills on 15 attacks (.333) and Rice never trailed after capturing a 9-8 advantage, eventually winning 25-19. The Owls broke a 19-19 tie by scoring the game's final six points. The Rice defense shined, holding Pitt to a .000 hitting clip and forcing nine errors. McCardell totaled seven digs while Graham and Maruska added six digs apiece.
Fifth Set
The Owls led for a majority of the set and held match point, 14-13, but saw the Panthers reel off the final three points to secure the match with a 16-14 victory. Lennon totaled three kills in the game while Adekunle and Graham added two kills apiece. Pitt hit .318 for the game while the Owls hit .238.
UP NEXT
The Owls will have a short turnaround as they face host South Carolina on Saturday at 9 a.m. (CT). The Gamecocks are coming off a 3-2 win over No. 18 Washington State on Friday. The match will be streamed on SEC Network+.
-RiceOwls.com-
Team Stats
RICE
PITT
Kills
53
61
Errors
22
24
Attempts
153
176
Hitting %
.203
.210
Points
66.0
77.0
Assists
47
57
Aces
3
8
Blocks
10.0
8.0
Game Leaders
Kills-Aces-Blocks
Kills
19
Aces
1
Blocks
2
Kills
11
Aces
0
Blocks
5
Kills
7
Aces
0
Blocks
1
Kills
7
Aces
0
Blocks
2
Players Mentioned
MB
/ Women's VolleyballS
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/ Women's VolleyballOH
/ Women's Volleyball
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