Volleyball Holds First Practice of 2023 Season
8/8/2023 1:25:00 PM | Women's Volleyball
HOUSTON — Beginning their first year in the American Athletic Conference, Rice Volleyball held its first practice of the 2023 season, Tuesday morning at Trauber Court.
Head Coach Genny Volpe is in her 20th season at the helm of the program. She returns nine letterwinners from last year's team that won the Conference USA Championship and advanced to the second round of the NCAA Tournament. Rice welcomes back C-USA Libero of the Year Nia McCardell, as well as Second Team All-Conference USA outside hitter Danyle Courtley.
"The team look good today," said Volpe. "They clearly have been in the gym. Not just working out with their strength coach, but you could tell that they've been focused in the gym. The connections with the setters and hitters were pretty good for Day One. We just did a little bit of everything today. We didn't break down the skills too much. We just wanted to see where we were at. We did a little bit of passing, serving, defense and attacking, and then put it all together at the end. It's a little bit different than we've done in the past. But, this is a pretty veteran group and the fact that we had the training segment before the Brazil trip helped us to know what to expect. So, it was a really good day. The energy was awesome. They had goals in place. They were very focused and I was very pleased with what we did today."
Rice begins the 2023 campaign on Aug. 19 when it hosts crosstown rival Houston in an exhibition match. The regular season begins on Aug. 25 when the Owls host Southern Miss.
Head Coach Genny Volpe is in her 20th season at the helm of the program. She returns nine letterwinners from last year's team that won the Conference USA Championship and advanced to the second round of the NCAA Tournament. Rice welcomes back C-USA Libero of the Year Nia McCardell, as well as Second Team All-Conference USA outside hitter Danyle Courtley.
"The team look good today," said Volpe. "They clearly have been in the gym. Not just working out with their strength coach, but you could tell that they've been focused in the gym. The connections with the setters and hitters were pretty good for Day One. We just did a little bit of everything today. We didn't break down the skills too much. We just wanted to see where we were at. We did a little bit of passing, serving, defense and attacking, and then put it all together at the end. It's a little bit different than we've done in the past. But, this is a pretty veteran group and the fact that we had the training segment before the Brazil trip helped us to know what to expect. So, it was a really good day. The energy was awesome. They had goals in place. They were very focused and I was very pleased with what we did today."
Rice begins the 2023 campaign on Aug. 19 when it hosts crosstown rival Houston in an exhibition match. The regular season begins on Aug. 25 when the Owls host Southern Miss.
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