Ogunlana Posts Perfection as Rice Takes Down East Carolina, 3-0

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Women's Volleyball

at North Texas

Nov 16

1 PM

Denton, Texas

Women's Volleyball

vs American Volleyball Championship

Nov 21

TBD

HOUSTON - Lademi Ogunlana cemented herself in the record books at the first Rice player ever to post a 1.000 hitting percentage with 10 or more attempts, as Rice volleyball stretched its win streak to six-straight matches, taking down East Carolina 3-0 on Sunday afternoon inside Tudor Fieldhouse.

Ogunlana went 11-for-11 with zero hitting errors to secure her spot at the top of the single match hitting percentage record, breaking the previous record of .900, set by Gina Pabst against Texas Southern on September 17, 1985. In that match, Pabst went nine for ten with zero hitting errors to post the .900 hitting percentage.

"Overall, I'm really proud of the team for not only winning the match but for staying true to our game plan and fighting off a very talented ECU team that just kept pushing us," said head coach Genny Volpe. "Lademi was 11 for 11 today which is just incredible. I'm so proud of her and her focus and determination to be her very best each day. The team just really rallied and I know we will need to carry this momentum into next week as we face two really strong teams."

Rice hit at a .319 clip as a team in the match, the second-highest team hitting percentage of the season. The Owls were led by Cindy Tchouangwa, who had 12 kills, the most of players for Rice. Samarah Hill and Lademi Ogunlana both had 11 on the day, with Ogunlana finishing with the perfect 1.000 hitting percentage.

Savannah Skopal ended the match with 38 of Rice's 48 assists on the day, with Kaia Mateo posting five. Darby Harris and Gaby Mansfield both had two, while Kaitlyn Knobbe notched one.

The Owls defense played great in the match, with seven players posting multiple digs. Harris led all Owls with 11 digs on the day, followed by Mansfield's nine. Both Nia McCardell and Skopal had eight, Hill posted seven, Ogunlana had three and Knobbe had two. Knobbe and Ogunlana also led the way in blocks with four each, followed by Lola Foord's three blocks. Tchouangwa notched two and both Hill and Skopal earned one.

HOW IT HAPPENED

SET ONE (RICE 25-21)
The first set went back and forth, with each team taking small leads before conceding the lead to the other. ECU built up a 9-5 lead early but Rice came back to tie it multiple times at 11-11 and 12-12 before taking a 13-12 lead. ECU would not go quietly, and eventually built a small lead of 17-15 back up before Rice went on a 4-0 run to take a 19-17 lead. ECU again took a brief lead at 21-20, but Rice used a 5-0 run to take the set at 25-21.

SET TWO (RICE 25-20)
An early 3-0 run to start the set by ECU was quickly wiped away by the Owls, who countered with a 3-0 run of its own to set the score at 3-3. Rice would take advantage of miscues by the Pirates and amass a large lead, leading by as much as six as multiple points (15-9, 17-11, 18-12, 21-15). The Pirates would attempt small rallies to try and get back into the set, but Rice kept the upper hand, taking the set at 25-20 with no problems, taking a 2-0 advantage into the intermission.

SET THREE (RICE 25-21)
The third set started with the Owls throwing the first punch, going up 3-1 in the first four points of the set. ECU would take advantage of some Owls miscues after that point, going up by as much as 9-4 . Rice closed the gap at 9-8, but the Pirates then outscored Rice 4-1 to take a 13-9 lead. Rice outscored ECU next by a margin of 6-1, taking a 15-14 lead. While ECU tied it at 15-15 and 16-16, Rice again went on another run, this time. 5-0 run to take a 21-16 lead. The Pirates would continue to try and get back into the match, but the Owls were able to take down ECU in the third set to move to 6-0 in AAC play.

UP NEXT
Rice will have a short week, taking on South Florida in Tampa on Wednesday, Oct. 16, before heading south to take on Florida Atlantic on Friday, Oct. 18.

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