Friday, November 22
Wichita, Kan.
1:30 PM
Rice University
19-7,13-3AAC
3
vs
1
North Texas
10-18,7-9AAC
1
2
3
4
F
North Texas
18
25
17
19
1
Rice
25
22
25
25
3
Major Milestones Set as #2 Rice Powers Past #7 North Texas in AAC Quarterfinals
11/22/2024 5:21:00 PM | Women's Volleyball
WICHITA, Kan. - Five days after falling to North Texas (10-18, 7-9 AAC) in a five-set heart-breaker, the second-seeded Rice Owls (19-7, 13-3) returned the favor by taking down the seventh-seeded Mean Green in four sets to open the Owls' run in the AAC Championship on Friday afternoon.
"I'm really proud of our team's focus and determination today," said head coach Genny Volpe. "A total team effort and gritty win. Nia McCardell was a beast on the court today and an incredible leader. [We're] looking forward to prepping for a big rematch with FAU again tomorrow!"
Two major milestones occurred for the Owls during the match. In the third set, Kaitlyn Knobbe tallied her 200th career block on a block assist with her and Lola Foord, putting the Owls up 2-0 in the early part of that set. In the fourth set, Darby Harris notched her 1,000th career dig toward the middle part of the set, coming into the match with 989 digs in her career.
Samarah Hill led the offense with 15 kills and a posted a .405 kill percentage, the third-highest on the team. She also had 14 digs to post her sixth double-double of the season, the most in her career. Katrina Jensen had 12 kills and Foord posted 10 to round out Owls with double-digit kills.
Savannah Skopal posted 38 assists to eclipse the 900 mark in her freshman campaign, sitting at 911 assists so far. Kaia Mateo posted 12 and McCardell had two to total at 52 for the Owls.
McCardell had an excellent day defensively, tallying 29 digs from the libero position to keep the Mean Green attacks from connecting. Along with McCardell, three other Owls had double-digit digs, with Hill posting 14, Harris tallying 13, and Skopal notching 10.
Rice totalled 11 blocks on the day, led by Ogunlana's six. Knobbe posted four to sit at 201 blocks in her career after the match. Foord had three blocks, Thea Carter, Hill, and Skopal all had two, and Jensen had one.
HOW IT HAPPENED
SET ONE (RICE 25-18)
The match began right where the last meeting between the two left off, as both teams were going straight at each other with neither side managing to break away. It wasn't until the 14-11 mark that a more than two point lead happened, with Rice taking the three-point edge. UNT cut the lead to one twice at 14-13 and 15-14, but a six-point run for Rice put distance between the two at 21-14. Though both sides scored four points each from that point, Rice's lead was too much as they took the first set 25-18.
SET TWO (UNT 25-22)
Rice opened the set aggressively with a five-point run to force a Mean Green timeout, but UNT would not waste much time tying the match up, evening the score at 8-8. UNT then took a 10-8 lead to force Rice to call a timeout. Rice came back to tie the match at 13-13, and took a lead at 16-15 before the Mean Green took a four-point lead thanks to a 5-0 run. Rice cut the lead to 23-22 late, but a bad set and a final UNT kill tied the match up heading into the third set.
SET THREE (RICE 25-17)
Rice took another quick lead early in the set at 5-2, but the Owls did not surrender the lead completely in the third set. After a 7-7 tie, Rice would lead the entire way, leading by as eight points late into the set. The eight-point advantage was took much for North Texas to try and overcome, as the Owls easily took the third set at 25-17.
SET FOUR (RICE 25-19)
An early 4-2 Rice lead was quickly turned into a 7-4 Mean Green lead, forcing Rice to call a timeout. Rice came out of the break on a 4-0 run to take the lead back at 8-7, before UNT immediately tied the set. Rice took the lead back, and like the previous set, never relinquished it. While UNT managed to tie the set up at 15-15, Rice created some separation with a four-point run to take a 19-15 lead. Rice outscored UNT 6-4 from that point to claim the quartefinal match up, ending UNT's season in the AAC Championships.
UP NEXT
Rice will turn around and face sixth-seeded Florida Atlantic at 11 a.m. at Charles Koch Arena in the AAC Semifinals.
"I'm really proud of our team's focus and determination today," said head coach Genny Volpe. "A total team effort and gritty win. Nia McCardell was a beast on the court today and an incredible leader. [We're] looking forward to prepping for a big rematch with FAU again tomorrow!"
Two major milestones occurred for the Owls during the match. In the third set, Kaitlyn Knobbe tallied her 200th career block on a block assist with her and Lola Foord, putting the Owls up 2-0 in the early part of that set. In the fourth set, Darby Harris notched her 1,000th career dig toward the middle part of the set, coming into the match with 989 digs in her career.
Samarah Hill led the offense with 15 kills and a posted a .405 kill percentage, the third-highest on the team. She also had 14 digs to post her sixth double-double of the season, the most in her career. Katrina Jensen had 12 kills and Foord posted 10 to round out Owls with double-digit kills.
Savannah Skopal posted 38 assists to eclipse the 900 mark in her freshman campaign, sitting at 911 assists so far. Kaia Mateo posted 12 and McCardell had two to total at 52 for the Owls.
McCardell had an excellent day defensively, tallying 29 digs from the libero position to keep the Mean Green attacks from connecting. Along with McCardell, three other Owls had double-digit digs, with Hill posting 14, Harris tallying 13, and Skopal notching 10.
Rice totalled 11 blocks on the day, led by Ogunlana's six. Knobbe posted four to sit at 201 blocks in her career after the match. Foord had three blocks, Thea Carter, Hill, and Skopal all had two, and Jensen had one.
HOW IT HAPPENED
SET ONE (RICE 25-18)
The match began right where the last meeting between the two left off, as both teams were going straight at each other with neither side managing to break away. It wasn't until the 14-11 mark that a more than two point lead happened, with Rice taking the three-point edge. UNT cut the lead to one twice at 14-13 and 15-14, but a six-point run for Rice put distance between the two at 21-14. Though both sides scored four points each from that point, Rice's lead was too much as they took the first set 25-18.
SET TWO (UNT 25-22)
Rice opened the set aggressively with a five-point run to force a Mean Green timeout, but UNT would not waste much time tying the match up, evening the score at 8-8. UNT then took a 10-8 lead to force Rice to call a timeout. Rice came back to tie the match at 13-13, and took a lead at 16-15 before the Mean Green took a four-point lead thanks to a 5-0 run. Rice cut the lead to 23-22 late, but a bad set and a final UNT kill tied the match up heading into the third set.
SET THREE (RICE 25-17)
Rice took another quick lead early in the set at 5-2, but the Owls did not surrender the lead completely in the third set. After a 7-7 tie, Rice would lead the entire way, leading by as eight points late into the set. The eight-point advantage was took much for North Texas to try and overcome, as the Owls easily took the third set at 25-17.
SET FOUR (RICE 25-19)
An early 4-2 Rice lead was quickly turned into a 7-4 Mean Green lead, forcing Rice to call a timeout. Rice came out of the break on a 4-0 run to take the lead back at 8-7, before UNT immediately tied the set. Rice took the lead back, and like the previous set, never relinquished it. While UNT managed to tie the set up at 15-15, Rice created some separation with a four-point run to take a 19-15 lead. Rice outscored UNT 6-4 from that point to claim the quartefinal match up, ending UNT's season in the AAC Championships.
UP NEXT
Rice will turn around and face sixth-seeded Florida Atlantic at 11 a.m. at Charles Koch Arena in the AAC Semifinals.
Team Stats
UNT
Rice
Kills
44
54
Errors
28
25
Attempts
162
152
Hitting %
.099
.191
Points
59.0
73.0
Assists
41
52
Aces
4
8
Blocks
11
11
Game Leaders
Kills
15
Aces
3
Blocks
2
Kills
12
Aces
0
Blocks
1
Kills
10
Aces
0
Blocks
3
Kills
8
Aces
1
Blocks
6
Players Mentioned
MB
/ Women's VolleyballOH
/ Women's Volleyball
S
/ Women's VolleyballOH
/ Women's VolleyballOH
/ Women's Volleyball
MB
/ Women's Volleyball
S
/ Women's Volleyball
L/DS
/ Women's Volleyball
S
/ Women's VolleyballVB: Rice-Texas Postgame Presser
Saturday, December 04
VB: Rice-San Diego Postgame Presser
Thursday, December 02