Sunday, November 17
Denton, Texas
1 PM
Rice University
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at
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North Texas
Owls Drop Regular Season Finale at North Texas
11/17/2024 6:10:00 PM | Women's Volleyball
DENTON, Texas – The Rice Owls volleyball team dropped a five-set heartbreaker on the road to the North Texas Mean Green on Sunday afternoon.
Samarah Hill led the Owls offensively with 21 kills, while Kaitlyn Knobbe posted 13 kills and a team-high .545 hitting percentage. Katrina Jensen and Lademi Ogunlana posted 13 and 10 kills, respectively to round out Owls with double-digit kills.
Savannah Skopal posted 54 of Rice's 60 assists, with Nia McCardell accounting for three, Hill posting two, and Lola Foord tallying one.
McCardell posted the most digs of any Owl with 21, followed by 14 by Hill, who now has five double-doubles in a season, the most in her career. Campbell Love posted 11 digs, followed by Darby Harris's eight. Jensen tallied three, while Foord and Skopal both has two to round out Owls with multiple digs.
HOW IT HAPPENED
SET ONE (RICE 25-23)
The Mean Green raced out to an early lead, leading by as much as 10-5, but the Owls fought to tie the first set up at 13-13. Rice took its first lead of the day at 16-15, but found itself trialing UNT again at 18-17.A 4-0 run at 20-18 UNT put Rice on top 22-20, and would not give the lead up, taking the first set 25-23.
SET TWO (UNT 25-20)
This time, Rice took the early lead at 7-2, but a 7-0 run by UNT would flip the script and give the Mean Green the lead. Rice couldn't catch up to UNT util it was 17-17, but the Mean Green would use a three-point run to take a 20-17 lead over Rice late. After an Owls timeout, Rice cut the lead to two points at 20-18 and 21-19, but it wasn't enough as UNT tied the match at 1-1.
SET THREE (RICE 25-19
Like the previous set, Rice came out to an early lead of 7-3, but UNT did not take the lead during the set at all. UNT would cut the lead to three points at 11-9 and 13-10, but that was the closest the set would get. Rice led by as much as eight points at 21-13, comfortably taking the set with a six-point margin at 25-19.
SET FOUR (UNT 25-17)
Neither side saw separation until UNT outscore Rice 6-1 after a 5-5 tie to take an 11-6 lead. From there, the Mean Green took a seven-point lead at 15-8. While Rice cut the lead to 15-12 after a four-point run, UNT used a five-point swing to regain momentum. The Mean Green never gave up the eight-point separation and won the set 25-17.
SET FIVE (UNT 15-10)
It looked to be all Owls early as three service aces from Kayla Patel put Rice up 5-1, but UNT fought back to force Rice to call a timeout at 6-5. Rice held a three-point lead at the mid-way point of the set, 8-5, but UNT outscored Rice 10-2 for the remainder of the set to claim victory and a spot in next week's conference tournament.
UP NEXT
Rice will begin its time in the AAC Championship on Friday on Wichita, Kansas. With USF's victory earlier on Sunday, the Owls were locked into the second seed. Rice will see UNT in a rematch to open the tournament.
Samarah Hill led the Owls offensively with 21 kills, while Kaitlyn Knobbe posted 13 kills and a team-high .545 hitting percentage. Katrina Jensen and Lademi Ogunlana posted 13 and 10 kills, respectively to round out Owls with double-digit kills.
Savannah Skopal posted 54 of Rice's 60 assists, with Nia McCardell accounting for three, Hill posting two, and Lola Foord tallying one.
McCardell posted the most digs of any Owl with 21, followed by 14 by Hill, who now has five double-doubles in a season, the most in her career. Campbell Love posted 11 digs, followed by Darby Harris's eight. Jensen tallied three, while Foord and Skopal both has two to round out Owls with multiple digs.
HOW IT HAPPENED
SET ONE (RICE 25-23)
The Mean Green raced out to an early lead, leading by as much as 10-5, but the Owls fought to tie the first set up at 13-13. Rice took its first lead of the day at 16-15, but found itself trialing UNT again at 18-17.A 4-0 run at 20-18 UNT put Rice on top 22-20, and would not give the lead up, taking the first set 25-23.
SET TWO (UNT 25-20)
This time, Rice took the early lead at 7-2, but a 7-0 run by UNT would flip the script and give the Mean Green the lead. Rice couldn't catch up to UNT util it was 17-17, but the Mean Green would use a three-point run to take a 20-17 lead over Rice late. After an Owls timeout, Rice cut the lead to two points at 20-18 and 21-19, but it wasn't enough as UNT tied the match at 1-1.
SET THREE (RICE 25-19
Like the previous set, Rice came out to an early lead of 7-3, but UNT did not take the lead during the set at all. UNT would cut the lead to three points at 11-9 and 13-10, but that was the closest the set would get. Rice led by as much as eight points at 21-13, comfortably taking the set with a six-point margin at 25-19.
SET FOUR (UNT 25-17)
Neither side saw separation until UNT outscore Rice 6-1 after a 5-5 tie to take an 11-6 lead. From there, the Mean Green took a seven-point lead at 15-8. While Rice cut the lead to 15-12 after a four-point run, UNT used a five-point swing to regain momentum. The Mean Green never gave up the eight-point separation and won the set 25-17.
SET FIVE (UNT 15-10)
It looked to be all Owls early as three service aces from Kayla Patel put Rice up 5-1, but UNT fought back to force Rice to call a timeout at 6-5. Rice held a three-point lead at the mid-way point of the set, 8-5, but UNT outscored Rice 10-2 for the remainder of the set to claim victory and a spot in next week's conference tournament.
UP NEXT
Rice will begin its time in the AAC Championship on Friday on Wichita, Kansas. With USF's victory earlier on Sunday, the Owls were locked into the second seed. Rice will see UNT in a rematch to open the tournament.
Players Mentioned
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