Rice University
Tulsa
PREVIEW: Owls Continue AAC Play at Tulsa and Wichita State
10/3/2024 3:00:00 PM | Women's Volleyball
Location: Tulsa, Oklahoma (Donald W. Reynolds Center)
Video Stream: ESPN+
Live Stats: StatBroadcast
Series: Rice leads, 22-18
Last Meeting: Rice won, 3-0 (Sept. 24, 2023)
Match 13 | Rice Owls at Wichita State Shockers | Sunday, October 6 | 1 p.m. CT
Location: Wichita, Kansas (Charles Koch Arena)
Video Stream: ESPN+
Live Stats: StatBroadcast
Series: Series tied, 3-3
Last Meeting: Rice won, 3-1 (Nov. 18, 2023)
HOUSTON - The Rice Owls volleyball team returns to play this weekend, taking on the Tulsa Golden Hurricane and Wichita State Shockers to continue conference play on Friday and Sunday, respectively.
MATCH NOTES
TOP OF THE PACK
Rice was voted as the favorite in the American Athletic Conference Preseason Coaches Poll for the first time since joining the conference. The Owls earned eight of the 12 available first place votes (coaches could not vote for their own team).
WE'RE NUMBER ONE
Rice led the nation in digs per set with 18.56 in 2023. Houston Christian, Rice's first opponent of the season, was sixth in the nation in the same category with 17.75 digs per set. Texas State was ranked 51st in the category with 15.85 digs per set.
IN A LEAGUE OF THEIR OWN
Since 2014, Rice has compiled a 119-28 (.807) record in conference play, including a 64-9 (.873) mark in the
previous five seasons. In its last 61 conference matches, the Owls have only dropped eight matches.
CROWNING ACHIEVEMENT
Rice has earned at least one AAC weekly honor in three of the first four weeks of the season. After week one, the Owls had three honorees in Nia McCardell (DPOTW), Savannah Skopal (SOTW), and Lademi Ogunlana (honorable mention). Week two saw Cindy Tchouangwa earn an honorable mention, & week four saw her win offensive POTW.
STARTING STRONG
Rice finishes non-conference play with a winning record for the third-straight season. Counting 2021, where the Owls finished 5-5 in non-conference play, it is the fourth-consecutive season the Owls have finished
non-conference play without a losing record. Since 2015, Rice has finished non-con play with a losing record only once (2020-21).
PEAK PER-FORMANCE
Rice has been in the top three in the AAC stat reports in kills per set, assists per set, and digs per set all season thus far.
WEATHERING THE HURRICANE
Tulsa enters the match at 10-4 overall and joins Rice as one of five teams in the AAC who are undefeated in conference after the first weekend of action (Rice, Tulsa, UNT, USF, Wichita State). Tulsa is the only team in the conference who out-digs Rice per set, posting 16.88 digs per set, .38 points above Rice's 16.50. However, the Golden Hurricane gives up 16.59 digs per set to opponents, the worst in the league by over a full point.
SKOPAL SETS THE STAGE
Freshman setter Savannah Skopal has been on an impressive run to start the season, posting 300 assists in her first nine matches, averaging 33.3 assists a match and an impressive 9.38 assists per set. In her first match, she posted 61 assists, the most by an Owl in a season opener since 2016 (Taylor Nelson, 54, vs. Cal Poly).
