Preview | Volleyball to Face Long Island and Kansas State in K-State Invitational

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Match 9 | Rice Owls vs. Long Island | Friday, Sept. 15, 1 p.m.
Location: Manhattan, Kan. (Morgan Family Arena)
Video Stream: ESPN+
Live Stats: StatBroadcast
Series: First Meeting

Match 10 | Rice Owls at Kansas State | Saturday, Sept. 16, 12 p.m.
Location: Manhattan, Kan. (Morgan Family Arena)
Video Stream: ESPN+
Live Stats: StatBroadcast
Series: Kansas State leads, 5-1 Last Meeting: Rice won, 3-2 (9/16/22)

SETTING THE SCENE
The Owls head to Manhattan, Kan., for the K-State Invitational. They open the tournament against Long Island on Sept. 15 at 1 p.m. in the first ever meeting between the schools.

Rice then faces host Kansas State on Saturday, Sept. 16, at 12 p.m. in a rematch of last year's Adidas Invitational II opener that saw the Owls take a 3-2 victory.

RICE NOTES

Rice is receiving votes in the latest AVCA/Taraflex Top 25 Poll. The Owls received 30 votes in the Top 25.
Following a week that saw Rice go 2-1, including pair of sweeps in the Rice Invitational, junior middle blocker Kaitlyn Knobbe and fifth-year senior middle blocker Satasha Kostelecky were both named to the AAC Honor Roll. Knobbe averaged 2.85 kills per set, 3.31 points and led the Owls with a .485 hitting percentage while also adding 1.50 blocks per set. Kostelecky averaged 1.78 blocks per set and 1.10 digs per set while also hitting .441 behind 1.89 kills per set and adding 3.11 points per set. She twice had seven blocks against Houston Christian and Florida Gulf Coast.
The Owls were picked to finish second in the West Division of the American Athletic Conference Preseason Poll behind SMU, receiving six first place votes.
Graduate student Emilia Weske (right side) and seniors Danyle Courtley (outside hitter), Nia McCardell (libero) and Sahara Maruska (outside hitter) were all named to the American Preseason Team.
Dating back to 2014 the Owls are 105-21 (.833) in conference play, which includes a 62-4 (.939) record the last five seasons. Rice is 39-1 in conference regular season contests dating back to the 2019 season.
The Owls are 14-14 against Power 5 schools dating back to 2019 and have recorded five Top-25 victories during that stretch.
Rice has appeared in the NCAA Tournament in five consecutive seasons. Last season the Owls defeated Colorado in the opening round of the tournament to advance to the Round of 32 for the third time in the last four seasons.
The Owls are one of only three programs in the state of Texas to qualify for the NCAA Tournament in each of the last five seasons, joining Texas and Baylor. Additionally, Rice is one of just 18 programs across Division I to reach the NCAA Tournament in each of the last five seasons.
Rice returned nine letterwinners and four starters from last season's NCAA Tournament team.
Head Coach Genny Volpe is in her 20th season with the Owls and is the school's all-time leader in total wins (380) and winning percentage (.652).
The Owls will be looking to fill the shoes of a pair of All-Americans. Outside hitter Anota Adekunle, finished her career as Rice's all-time leader in hitting percentage (.408) and setter Carly Graham was a three-time Conference USA Setter of the Year.

-RiceOwls.com-

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