Sunday, November 20
Bowling Green, KY
1 p.m.
Rice University
-263,131 CUSA
3
at
2
No. 20 WKU
-283,140 CUSA
1
2
3
4
5
F
Rice
22
25
22
28
15
3
Western Ky.
25
22
25
26
11
2
Photo by: Gunnar Word/WKU Athletics
Owls End WKU's Reign as C-USA Champions
11/20/2022 6:12:00 PM | Women's Volleyball
Graham named MVP
Bowling Green, Ky-Nine days after they saw victory slip through their fingers in the fifth set on the same court, the Rice volleyball team turned the tables on Western Kentucky and ended a five-match losing streak to the Hilltoppers in the Conference USA championship match while also snapping WKU's three-year run as tournament champions, 3-2 (22-25, 25-22, 22-25, 28-26, 15-11).
The 22nd-ranked Owls had two match points in the fifth set against No. 20 WKU on November 11 at E.A. Diddle Arena only to see the Hilltoppers score four straight points to win the decisive set 16-14. On Sunday, the Owls found themselves serving with three match points in hand and they wasted no time in closing out their first conference tournament title and automatic NCAA bid since 2018.
"I'm just overwhelmed with joy because this team just makes me so proud and I'm happy that they're getting to reap the benefits of all their hard work. They have bought in from day one to this program and to each other and, it's just nice to see them finish it off with a championship and earn it because they certainly did," Rice head coach Genny Volpe said.
"This team just really trusted the process. We have been in the situation several times, with Western Kentucky of course, but also with other teams in big moments and I just felt like we were prepared for it We hit .318 in the fifth set and we held Western to .143 hitting percentage and that's very uncharacteristic of them. I credit our defense for really, pressuring them to try to hit a different shot. It was necessary for us to get them uncomfortable and I think that just made the difference at the end," she added.
The title match was a back-and-forth affair with WKU taking the first and third sets 25-22 and Rice using the same score to take the second.
The fourth set saw the Owls lead by as much as four early and by three at 19-16 before the Hilltoppers surged into position to serve for the championship at 25-24 after an apparent winner for Rice was reversed on a successful challenge. But Rice fired back with a kill from Lola Foord to tie the match at 25 each and it was Foord again two points later foiling WKU's second championship point with a kill to knot it up at 26 all. Carly Graham then set up Sahara Maruska for consecutive kills to send the match to a fifth set, 28-26.
Foord collected eight kills after entering the game in the fourth set and she added three more in the final frame to finish with a career-high 11.
The final set saw WKU jump out to an early 3-1 lead but back-to-back kills by Danyle Courtley and Foord put Rice in front to stay 8-6. Another kill by Courtley was followed by an error by the Hilltoppers and the lead grew to 10-7. Marushka kept the lead at three with a kill to make it 13-10. Anota Adekunle and Carly Graham, the Owls' two fifth-year seniors who tasted success at the conference tournament as freshmen in 2018, converted to push the lead to 14-11 and Nia McCardell's next serve was returned deep to end the match.
Graham was named the MVP of the tournament, the same honor Adekunle won as a freshman in 2018 and they were joined on the all-tournament team by McCardell and Maruska.
The tournament title was the third for Owls' head coach Genny Volpe, who will now lead Rice to its fifth consecutive appearance in the NCAA Tournament and the eighth overall under her direction.
WKU had defeated Rice in the C-USA championship match five times since joining the conference in 2014 including wins at Tudor Fieldhouse in 2016 and 2019, and in the last three title matches. The schools have met nearly as often in the championship match (six times) as they have in the regular season (seven) and two of Rice's three wins have come at Diddle Arena. The Owls snapped WKU's 57-match home winning streak with a four-set win in 2018.
Sunday's meeting was the final between the schools in a conference tournament as Rice will move to The American Athletic Conference next year. Volpe said the battles with the Hilltoppers have forged a mutual respect between the programs.
"The Western Kentucky Rice rivalry has been excellent. It's been one of the best competitive rivalries that I've ever been a part of, as a player or a coach and I think we respect each other so much. We know that we're going to get the best from them and I believe, they know they're going to get the best from us. I think that we make each other better and I'm looking for both of us to make a really strong run in the tournament."
The field for the 2022 NCAA Women's Volleyball Championship will be announced next Sunday (November 27) at 6:30 p.m. on ESPNU.
The 22nd-ranked Owls had two match points in the fifth set against No. 20 WKU on November 11 at E.A. Diddle Arena only to see the Hilltoppers score four straight points to win the decisive set 16-14. On Sunday, the Owls found themselves serving with three match points in hand and they wasted no time in closing out their first conference tournament title and automatic NCAA bid since 2018.
"I'm just overwhelmed with joy because this team just makes me so proud and I'm happy that they're getting to reap the benefits of all their hard work. They have bought in from day one to this program and to each other and, it's just nice to see them finish it off with a championship and earn it because they certainly did," Rice head coach Genny Volpe said.
"This team just really trusted the process. We have been in the situation several times, with Western Kentucky of course, but also with other teams in big moments and I just felt like we were prepared for it We hit .318 in the fifth set and we held Western to .143 hitting percentage and that's very uncharacteristic of them. I credit our defense for really, pressuring them to try to hit a different shot. It was necessary for us to get them uncomfortable and I think that just made the difference at the end," she added.
The title match was a back-and-forth affair with WKU taking the first and third sets 25-22 and Rice using the same score to take the second.
The fourth set saw the Owls lead by as much as four early and by three at 19-16 before the Hilltoppers surged into position to serve for the championship at 25-24 after an apparent winner for Rice was reversed on a successful challenge. But Rice fired back with a kill from Lola Foord to tie the match at 25 each and it was Foord again two points later foiling WKU's second championship point with a kill to knot it up at 26 all. Carly Graham then set up Sahara Maruska for consecutive kills to send the match to a fifth set, 28-26.
Foord collected eight kills after entering the game in the fourth set and she added three more in the final frame to finish with a career-high 11.
The final set saw WKU jump out to an early 3-1 lead but back-to-back kills by Danyle Courtley and Foord put Rice in front to stay 8-6. Another kill by Courtley was followed by an error by the Hilltoppers and the lead grew to 10-7. Marushka kept the lead at three with a kill to make it 13-10. Anota Adekunle and Carly Graham, the Owls' two fifth-year seniors who tasted success at the conference tournament as freshmen in 2018, converted to push the lead to 14-11 and Nia McCardell's next serve was returned deep to end the match.
Graham was named the MVP of the tournament, the same honor Adekunle won as a freshman in 2018 and they were joined on the all-tournament team by McCardell and Maruska.
The tournament title was the third for Owls' head coach Genny Volpe, who will now lead Rice to its fifth consecutive appearance in the NCAA Tournament and the eighth overall under her direction.
WKU had defeated Rice in the C-USA championship match five times since joining the conference in 2014 including wins at Tudor Fieldhouse in 2016 and 2019, and in the last three title matches. The schools have met nearly as often in the championship match (six times) as they have in the regular season (seven) and two of Rice's three wins have come at Diddle Arena. The Owls snapped WKU's 57-match home winning streak with a four-set win in 2018.
Sunday's meeting was the final between the schools in a conference tournament as Rice will move to The American Athletic Conference next year. Volpe said the battles with the Hilltoppers have forged a mutual respect between the programs.
"The Western Kentucky Rice rivalry has been excellent. It's been one of the best competitive rivalries that I've ever been a part of, as a player or a coach and I think we respect each other so much. We know that we're going to get the best from them and I believe, they know they're going to get the best from us. I think that we make each other better and I'm looking for both of us to make a really strong run in the tournament."
The field for the 2022 NCAA Women's Volleyball Championship will be announced next Sunday (November 27) at 6:30 p.m. on ESPNU.
Team Stats
Rice
WestKy
Kills
78
69
Errors
26
23
Attempts
186
190
Hitting %
.280
.242
Points
91
91
Assists
75
67
Aces
4
9
Blocks
9
13
Game Leaders
Kills-Aces-Blocks
Kills
17
Aces
0
Blocks
1
Kills
15
Aces
0
Blocks
2
Kills
13
Aces
1
Blocks
1
Kills
11
Aces
0
Blocks
1
Players Mentioned
MB
/ Women's VolleyballOH/RS
/ Women's VolleyballOH/RS
/ Women's Volleyball
S
/ Women's VolleyballOH
/ Women's Volleyball
L
/ Women's VolleyballRice vs. Central Arkansas Highlights
Sunday, August 31
Volleyball Exhibition vs. Houston Post-Match Press Conference
Sunday, August 24
VB Thea Carter Kick Save vs. Wichita State
Monday, August 18
2024 Night of the Owl End of Year Recap
Thursday, April 25