Rice University
11-5,6-1AAC
South Florida
11-7,7-0AAC
Volleyball Falls at USF
10/16/2024 7:23:00 PM | Women's Volleyball
TAMPA, Fla. - The Rice Owls volleyball team dropped its first conference match of the season against the South Florida Bulls in the Yuengling Center on Wednesday evening, 3-0.
"USF just punched us in the mouth tonight," said head coach Genny Volpe. "They are a very strong attacking team and we just did not counter attack well. The first set we actually outplayed them but gave up too many points on serves and had a few passing errors to start the match which got us in a hole. But in set 2 we did not execute well enough to win."
"We are 100% using this as fuel to make us better as I know what a great team we have," Volpe continued. "USF played a great match and deserved that win more than we did."
Samarah Hill led the Owls with 12 kill on the night, the only Owl with double-digit kills. Cindy Tchouangwa had eight and both Lademi Ogunlana and Katrina Jensen rounded out the top four with four kills each.
Savannah Skopal led the Owls with 17 assists, with Kaia Mateo added eight and Gaby Mansfield putting up six in the match. Both Hill and Ogunlana added one to total the Owls assists at 33 for the night.
Defensively, the Owls were paced by Mansfield's 16 digs and two blocks from Kaitlyn Knobbe and Ogunlana each. Darby Harris had seven digs, Mateo had six, and Nia McCardell had five to round out Owls with more than five digs. Lola Foord, Hill, Skopal, and Tchouangwa all had one block each.
HOW IT HAPPENED
SET ONE (USF 25-21)
USF jumped out to a 4-0 lead thanks to three service aces and a block, forcing the Owls to burn its first timeout of the first set. Rice took the ball thanks to a USF service error, and fought back before tying the set up at 11-11. Rice took its first lead of the match at 13-12 thanks to a block assist from Hill and Ogunlana, but the Bulls took the lead back with back-to-back kills. Rice took the lead back at 16-15, then built its largest lead of the set at 19-17 to force USF to call a timeout. Rice again had a two-point lead at 21-19, but USF closed the set out on a 6-0 run to take a 1-0 lead in the match.
SET TWO (USF 25-14)
Both sides swapped points early, with Rice tying the match at 1-1, 2-2, and 7-7, but never took the lead in the second set. USF put the initial distance between the two with a 3-0 Rin to take a 10-7 lead. Rice would continue to fight but once the Bulls took a 12-9 lead, they then went on a 8-0 run to take a 20-9 lead late in the set. Rice would begin to rally with a 3-0 run, but the Bulls would outscore the Owls 5-2 from that point to take the second set at 25-14.
SET THREE (USF 25-23)
Rice scored the first point in the set with a Jensen kill, and stuck with the Bulls in the beginning of the set, tying the match at 8-8. USF tried to pull away with a 4-0 run, but Rice stuck with it and went on a 3-0 run of its own. USF would then build a lead as large as six points at 22-16, but Rice would outscore the Bulls 7-1 to tie it up at 23-23 with a chance to extend the match and claim its first set of the night. However, back-to-back blocks would seal the match for USF.
UP NEXT
Rice will stay in the Sunshine State to take on the Florida Atlantic Owls on Friday evening. First serve is set for 5 p.m. CT.
