Rice University
Wichita State
PREVIEW: Key Conference Swing on Tap as Owls Host Wichita State, UAB
11/7/2024 3:00:00 PM | Women's Volleyball
Location: Houston, Texas (Tudor Fieldhouse)
Video Stream: ESPN+
Live Stats: Sidearm Stats
Series: Rice leads, 4-3
Last Meeting: Rice won, 3-2 (Oct. 6, 2023)
Match 23 | Rice Owls vs. UAB Blazers | Sunday, November 10 | 1 p.m.
Location: Houston, Texas (Tudor Fieldhouse)
Video Stream: ESPN+
Live Stats: Sidearm Stats
Series: Rice leads, 21-8
Last Meeting: Rice won, 3-0 (Sept. 20, 2023)
HOUSTON - The Rice Owls volleyball team is set to host the Wichita State Shockers and the UAB Blazers on Friday and Sunday, respectively, in a key weekend for Rice's AAC regular season championship hopes.
THE LOWDOWN
With two weeks and four matches between now and the end of the regular season, four teams are toward the top of the standings. Rice and South Florida are both tied for first in the league with at 10-2 conference record, while Wichita State and East Carolina are both one game behind the Owls and Bulls with a 9-3 conference record. If the season were to end today, the order of the top four seeds would be USF, Rice, ECU, and WSU, due to tiebreakers. The top eight teams in the league (decided by conference record) will head to Wichita, Kan., for the three-day tournament. The team who earns the #1 seed in the tournament will also host the 2025 AAC Volleyball Championship.
QUEEN NIA
Fifth year defensive specialist and libero Nia McCardell is the third player in school history to register 2,000 digs, coming on Sunday, 10/27, at Temple. (1. Tracey Lamb, 07-10, 2,399, 2. Daniela Arenas, 11-14, 2,162).
QUALITY EXPERIENCE
Between Rice head coach Genny Volpe and Wichita State head coach Chris Lamp, there are 46 years of coaching experience and over 930 combined victories.
HOME SWEET HOME
Since 2018, the Owls have protected their home court, holding a 73-11 (.869) mark. In fact, since 2014, they are 117-23 (.836). Rice has been even better on their home court against conference opponents, having won 31 of its last 33 home conference matches dating back to the 2020-21 spring season. Since the 2015 season, Rice is 64-4 (.941) in conference home matches.
A LITTLE HISTORY LESSON
Rice took the first series lead over the Shockers since 2009 with its win in Wichita on October 6, now leading the series 4-3. Rice was up 2-0 iin the series with wins in 1990 and 1995 before the Shockers won three-straight in 2008, 2009, and 2023. Rice won the second matchup in 2023 to tie the series.
IN A LEAGUE OF THEIR OWN
Since 2014, Rice has compiled a 127-30 (.807) record in conference play, including a 72-11 (.864) mark in the previous six seasons.
CROWNING ACHIEVEMENT
Rice has earned at least one AAC weekly honor in eight of 10 weeks. 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. Week five saw Tchouangwa earn another honorable mention while week six saw Samarah Hill and Gaby Mansfield nab honorable mentions. Week seven saw Ogunlana and Tchouangwa both take honorable mentions, while week nine saw Jensen and McCardell earn honorable mentions. This week, Skopal earned her second freshman of the season honor, while Knobbe and Ogunlana both earned honorable mentions.
VERY MINDFUL, VERY DEMI-URE
Middle blocker Lademi Ogunlana cemented herself in the Rice history books against East Carolina as the first player ever to post a 1.000 hitting percentage with 10+ attempts. Ogunlana went 11/11 against the Pirates.
