No. 21 Volleyball Drops Heartbreaker to No. 22 WKU

Thursday, November 10

Bowling Green, KY

6:00 P.M. CT

Rice University

-223,121 CUSA

No. 22 WKU

-262,140 CUSA

Team	1	2	3	4	5	Final F
Rice	19	28	24	25	14	2
Western Ky.	25	26	26	17	16	3

Photo by: Maria Lysaker

No. 21 Volleyball Drops Heartbreaker to No. 22 WKU

11/11/2022 12:10:00 AM | Women's Volleyball

Box Score WKU 3-Rice 2 (Box Score PDF)

By: By: Tim Andrzejewski (tim.andrzejewski@rice.edu)

Bowling Green, Ky. – The No. 21 Rice Owls volleyball team played a thrilling five-set match at No. 22 WKU, but in the end fell just short, 3-2 (19-25, 28-26, 24-26, 25-17, 14-16), Thursday night at E.A. Diddle Arena.

The loss snaps their 38-match regular season conference winning streak. Rice clinches the second seed in next week's Conference USA Tournament.

Rice (22-3, 12-1) hit .250 while WKU was held to .242. Junior Danyle Courtley tied her career-high with 22 kills (.250) and senior Ellie Bichelmeyer led the Owls with a .371 (19-of-35) hitting percentage.

Fifth year setter Carly Graham led all players with 51 assists, her sixth match this year with at least 50 assists as she became the fourth player in school history with 4,000 career assists. She also had 14 digs for her ninth double-double of the year.

Junior Sahara Maruska had 14 kills and 15 digs for her seventh double-double of the year and freshman Darby Harris added a team-high 17 digs.

Postgame Reaction – Head Coach, Genny Volpe
"It was definitely a heartbreaker. This team wanted that win here and was very close to getting it. But in the end, WKU made the plays that they needed to. Much respect to them. It's always a battle when we face them and this was no different."

HOW IT HAPPENED
First Set
Rice jumped out to a 5-3 lead. But the Hilltoppers scored nine of the next 11 points lead 12-7. WKU extended its advantage to 18-10. Rice cut the deficit to 24-19, but the Hilltoppers closed out the set, 25-19. Courtley (5 - .444) and Bichelmeyer (3 - .400) combined for eight of Rice's 11 kills in the set.

Second Set
WKU started our fast in a set that saw 14 ties and nine lead changes, scoring the first four points. After it pushed the lead to 11-6, Rice went on a 6-0 run to take its first lead of the set. The teams went back-and-forth with neither one leading by more than two points. Rice held set points at 24-22, but the Hilltoppers scored three straight to take the lead. After the Owls tied it, the teams traded points until Rice won it on a block by Bichelmeyer and Satasha Kostelecky, 28-26. Courtley led the Owls with four kills.

Third Set
With WKU leading 5-3, Rice scored six of the next seven points to take a 9-6 lead. The Hilltoppers tied it at nine and the teams went back-and-forth for most of the set. Rice led 23-22, but the Toppers scored four of the final five points to win the set, 26-24. Courtley had five kills and Maruska had four.

Fourth Set
Rice started out strong, jumping out to a 7-2 lead. WKU cut the lead to 10-8, but the Owls scored nine of next 12 points. Rice took its largest lead at 23-13. The Hilltoppers scored four of the next five points, but Maruska closed the set and tied the match with a kill, 25-17.

Fifth Set
WKU opened the set leading 6-2. However, Rice came roaring back, going on an 8-3 run to take a 10-9 lead. The Hilltoppers took a 12-10 lead, but Rice scored four straight points, taking a 14-12 advantage. However, the Hilltoppers scored the final four points to take the match, 16-14.

UP NEXT
The Owls close the regular season this Saturday, Nov. 12, when it travels to Murfreesboro, Tenn., to face Middle Tennessee at 11 a.m.

-RiceOwls.com-