
Volleyball Rebounds in 3-1 Win Over Tulane
10/25/2024 7:36:00 PM | Women's Volleyball
HOUSTON - The Rice Owls volleyball team bounced back from last week's matches, defeating Tulane at Tudor Fieldhouse, 3-1, to sweep the season series against the Green Wave.
"I'm super proud of how focused our team was tonight," said head cach Genny Volpe on the team's performance. "We had people step up big time tonight. I thought Nia [McCardell] had a great match and kept so many plays alive! I also am so proud of Kat[rina Jensen] and Lola [Foord]. They had big time performances.
Lola Foord was the offensive leader for Rice, leading the pack with 15 kills and a .500 hitting percentage. Other Owls with 10+ kills include Katrina Jensen with 14 and Samarah Hill with 11. Foord and Jensen also paced the Owls with a team-high 15 points each.
Savannah Skopal paced the Owls with 32 assists to bring her season total up to 581. Kaia Mateo posted 15 to round out Owls with 10+ assists on the night.
Nia McCardell posted 21 digs from the libero position tonight, bringing her career total to 1,991, just nine away from 2,000. McCardell would be just the third Owl to post 2,000 digs in a career. She was the only Owl with 10+ digs on the night. McCardell also posted a kill trying to keep a ball up, but a Tulane player touched it to push it out of bounds.
HOW IT HAPPENED
SET ONE (RICE 25-13)
Rice set the tempo with three-straight kills to take a quick 3-0 lead. Tulane would match Rice's scoring shortly there after, tying the match at 5-5, but a 3-0 run by Rice forced the Green Wave to burn an early timeout. From that timeout to the next one, Rice outscored Tulane 6-3, and poured it on from that point. Tulane would be outscored 11-5 after the Green Wave's second timeout as Rice claimed the first set and took momentum into the second set.
SET TWO (RICE 25-20)
Rice took control of the second set after Tulane pushed back and tied the set at 14-14. Rice outscored Tulane 4-2 to force Tulane's second timeout of the set, then outscored Tulane 7-4 the rest of the way to claim a 2-0 advantage going into the intermission.
SET THREE (TULANE 25-21)
Tulane came out in the third set as the aggressors, building as much as a 10-5 lead in the early part of the set. Rice would cut the lead to one at 11-10, but Tulane stayed a step ahead of the Owls through the set. Rice cut the lead to one again at 16-15 and had a two-point deficit at 21-19, but Tulane outscored Rice 4-2 in the waning moments of the set to get on the board and prevent the sweep.
SET FOUR (RICE 25-15)
Rice came out in the fourth set aggressive, taking an early 6-2 lead at the first called timeout. While Tulane did fight back and cut the lead to three a couple of times (9-6, 10-7), Rice went on a 5-1 run to force another timeout at 15-8. From there, it was all Owls, who continued to bolster the lead and eventally take a 10-point lead at match point. Tulane would score one, but a service error gave Rice the 10-point win in the set and the 3-1 victory in the match.
UP NEXT
Rice flies north to take on the Temple Owls on Sunday, October 27. First serve is scheduled for 12 p.m. CT.
"I'm super proud of how focused our team was tonight," said head cach Genny Volpe on the team's performance. "We had people step up big time tonight. I thought Nia [McCardell] had a great match and kept so many plays alive! I also am so proud of Kat[rina Jensen] and Lola [Foord]. They had big time performances.
Lola Foord was the offensive leader for Rice, leading the pack with 15 kills and a .500 hitting percentage. Other Owls with 10+ kills include Katrina Jensen with 14 and Samarah Hill with 11. Foord and Jensen also paced the Owls with a team-high 15 points each.
Savannah Skopal paced the Owls with 32 assists to bring her season total up to 581. Kaia Mateo posted 15 to round out Owls with 10+ assists on the night.
Nia McCardell posted 21 digs from the libero position tonight, bringing her career total to 1,991, just nine away from 2,000. McCardell would be just the third Owl to post 2,000 digs in a career. She was the only Owl with 10+ digs on the night. McCardell also posted a kill trying to keep a ball up, but a Tulane player touched it to push it out of bounds.
HOW IT HAPPENED
SET ONE (RICE 25-13)
Rice set the tempo with three-straight kills to take a quick 3-0 lead. Tulane would match Rice's scoring shortly there after, tying the match at 5-5, but a 3-0 run by Rice forced the Green Wave to burn an early timeout. From that timeout to the next one, Rice outscored Tulane 6-3, and poured it on from that point. Tulane would be outscored 11-5 after the Green Wave's second timeout as Rice claimed the first set and took momentum into the second set.
SET TWO (RICE 25-20)
Rice took control of the second set after Tulane pushed back and tied the set at 14-14. Rice outscored Tulane 4-2 to force Tulane's second timeout of the set, then outscored Tulane 7-4 the rest of the way to claim a 2-0 advantage going into the intermission.
SET THREE (TULANE 25-21)
Tulane came out in the third set as the aggressors, building as much as a 10-5 lead in the early part of the set. Rice would cut the lead to one at 11-10, but Tulane stayed a step ahead of the Owls through the set. Rice cut the lead to one again at 16-15 and had a two-point deficit at 21-19, but Tulane outscored Rice 4-2 in the waning moments of the set to get on the board and prevent the sweep.
SET FOUR (RICE 25-15)
Rice came out in the fourth set aggressive, taking an early 6-2 lead at the first called timeout. While Tulane did fight back and cut the lead to three a couple of times (9-6, 10-7), Rice went on a 5-1 run to force another timeout at 15-8. From there, it was all Owls, who continued to bolster the lead and eventally take a 10-point lead at match point. Tulane would score one, but a service error gave Rice the 10-point win in the set and the 3-1 victory in the match.
UP NEXT
Rice flies north to take on the Temple Owls on Sunday, October 27. First serve is scheduled for 12 p.m. CT.
Team Stats
Tulane
Rice
Kills
48
63
Errors
14
17
Attempts
132
144
Hitting %
.258
.319
Points
54.0
74.0
Assists
47
59
Aces
1
8
Blocks
5
3
Game Leaders
Players Mentioned
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