Sunday, October 27
Philadelphia, Pa.
12 PM
Rice University
13-6,8-2AAC
3
at
0
Temple
11-13,3-7AAC
1
2
3
F
Rice
25
25
25
3
Temple
23
21
14
0
Photo by: Maria Lysaker
McCardell Earns 2,000th Career Dig as Volleyball Defeats Temple in Straight Sets
10/27/2024 4:41:00 PM | Women's Volleyball
PHILADELPHIA, Pa. - Fifth year libero Nia McCardell notched the 2,000th dig of her career as the Rice Owls volleyball team improved to 13-6 overall, including 8-2 in conference, after defeating the Temple Owls, 3-0, on Sunday afternoon in McGonigle Hall.
"I'm really proud of the team for just staying so composed in moments where Temple had the momentum," said head coach Genny Volpe on her team's effort. "I think set two in particular we showed a ton of confidence and trust in ourselves and each other.
I'm extremely proud of Nia [McCardell] for not only how she played today but just for her massive contributions to this program," she continued, regarding McCardell's 2,000 digs. "Kat[rina Jensen] was huge today as well. She has really stepped up when we needed her and it's exciting to see how versatile we can be."
McCardell registered a total of 18 digs in the match, as well as two assists. She now sits at 2,010 digs in her career, placing third in program history. Only Tracey Lamb (2007-10, 2,399) and Daniela Arenas (2011-14, 2,162) have more digs in a career at Rice.
Katrina Jensen led the Owls offensively with 14 kills and a .464 hitting percentage, as well as registering two digs. Samarah Hill also registered 11 kills as the only other Owl with double-digit kills. Hill also had seven digs, two service aces, and an assist.
Savannah Skopal notched 20 assists on the day, with Kaia Mateo following that up with 15 assists of her own to account for 35 of the Owls' 41 assists.
On the defensive side along with McCardell, Darby Harris tallied 14 digs as the only other Owl to have double-digit digs. Lademi Ogunlana had five blocks on the day, along with Lola Foord's three and Mateo's two, while Kaitlyn Knobbe tallied one.
HOW IT HAPPENED
SET ONE (RICE 25-23)
The first set was the most competitive of the three, with 10 ties and five lead changes. Neither side was able to pull too far away from each other toward the later part of the set. Temple built up as much as a six-point lead at 12-6, but Rice would outscore Temple 8-2 right after that to tie the set at 14-14, forcing a Temple timeout. From there, the largest lead either side could build was two points. The set was tied at 23-23 at th end, but a kill from Rice, as well as a bad set from Temple, clinched the set for Rice.
SET TWO (RICE 25-21)
Temple again came out strong, building another six point lead over Rice at 16-10, but Rice continued to fight and battle back. When Temple held a 20-15 lead, Rice went on one of its largest runs of the season, outscoring Temple 10-1 to take the set at 25-21. This set featured seven ties and three lead changes, but Rice remained in control during and after the huge run.
SET THREE (RICE 25-14)
Temple tried to regain some momentum by opening the set with a 5-2 lead, but Rice responded with a 5-0 run to take a 7-5 lead shortly after, never reliquishing the lead afterwards. Temple would try to keep the final set close, but Rice exerted its will after Temple cut th lead to 13-10, going on a 6-0 run to push the lead to nine points at 19-0. From there, Temple would score a few more points to try and rally, but Rice ended any chance of that with a kill to make the score 25-14.
UP NEXT
Rice will return home to host Charlotte on Friday, November 1, before heading west to face UTSA for the final time this regular season on Sunday, November 3.
"I'm really proud of the team for just staying so composed in moments where Temple had the momentum," said head coach Genny Volpe on her team's effort. "I think set two in particular we showed a ton of confidence and trust in ourselves and each other.
I'm extremely proud of Nia [McCardell] for not only how she played today but just for her massive contributions to this program," she continued, regarding McCardell's 2,000 digs. "Kat[rina Jensen] was huge today as well. She has really stepped up when we needed her and it's exciting to see how versatile we can be."
McCardell registered a total of 18 digs in the match, as well as two assists. She now sits at 2,010 digs in her career, placing third in program history. Only Tracey Lamb (2007-10, 2,399) and Daniela Arenas (2011-14, 2,162) have more digs in a career at Rice.
Katrina Jensen led the Owls offensively with 14 kills and a .464 hitting percentage, as well as registering two digs. Samarah Hill also registered 11 kills as the only other Owl with double-digit kills. Hill also had seven digs, two service aces, and an assist.
Savannah Skopal notched 20 assists on the day, with Kaia Mateo following that up with 15 assists of her own to account for 35 of the Owls' 41 assists.
On the defensive side along with McCardell, Darby Harris tallied 14 digs as the only other Owl to have double-digit digs. Lademi Ogunlana had five blocks on the day, along with Lola Foord's three and Mateo's two, while Kaitlyn Knobbe tallied one.
HOW IT HAPPENED
SET ONE (RICE 25-23)
The first set was the most competitive of the three, with 10 ties and five lead changes. Neither side was able to pull too far away from each other toward the later part of the set. Temple built up as much as a six-point lead at 12-6, but Rice would outscore Temple 8-2 right after that to tie the set at 14-14, forcing a Temple timeout. From there, the largest lead either side could build was two points. The set was tied at 23-23 at th end, but a kill from Rice, as well as a bad set from Temple, clinched the set for Rice.
SET TWO (RICE 25-21)
Temple again came out strong, building another six point lead over Rice at 16-10, but Rice continued to fight and battle back. When Temple held a 20-15 lead, Rice went on one of its largest runs of the season, outscoring Temple 10-1 to take the set at 25-21. This set featured seven ties and three lead changes, but Rice remained in control during and after the huge run.
SET THREE (RICE 25-14)
Temple tried to regain some momentum by opening the set with a 5-2 lead, but Rice responded with a 5-0 run to take a 7-5 lead shortly after, never reliquishing the lead afterwards. Temple would try to keep the final set close, but Rice exerted its will after Temple cut th lead to 13-10, going on a 6-0 run to push the lead to nine points at 19-0. From there, Temple would score a few more points to try and rally, but Rice ended any chance of that with a kill to make the score 25-14.
UP NEXT
Rice will return home to host Charlotte on Friday, November 1, before heading west to face UTSA for the final time this regular season on Sunday, November 3.
Team Stats
Rice
Temple
Kills
46
34
Errors
11
18
Attempts
110
119
Hitting %
.318
.134
Points
55.0
43.0
Assists
43
30
Aces
3
5
Blocks
6
4
Game Leaders
Kills
16
Aces
0
Blocks
0
Kills
11
Aces
2
Blocks
0
Kills
7
Aces
0
Blocks
3
Kills
5
Aces
0
Blocks
1
Players Mentioned
OH
/ Women's Volleyball
S
/ Women's VolleyballOH
/ Women's VolleyballOH
/ Women's VolleyballMB
/ Women's Volleyball
S
/ Women's Volleyball
L/DS
/ Women's Volleyball
MB
/ Women's Volleyball
S
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