Saturday, September 7
Houston, Texas
1 PM
Rice University
4-1,0-0AAC
3
vs
1
UNLV
4-1,0-0Mountain West
1
2
3
4
F
UNLV
20
22
25
22
1
Rice
25
25
21
25
3
Volleyball Improves to 4-1 in Victory Over UNLV
9/7/2024 3:42:00 PM | Women's Volleyball
Rice's first four-set game this season ends in a victory
HOUSTON - The Rice Owls volleyball team (4-1) withstood multiple rally attempts from the UNLV Rebels (4-1), but outlasted the opposition to take its fourth win of the season in four sets on Saturday afternoon in Tudor Fieldhouse.
"I'm very proud of the team for how we locked in today and beat a really good UNLV team today," head coach Genny Volpe had to say about her team's performance. "It has been a week of mostly competition and very little training. But anything we have asked them to do, they are really trying to execute. Today was a full team win. We have multiple people contribute. Kat Jensen had a breakout game and Samarah Hill was just so steady, but mainly, I'm just proud of how several people were just ready to play today."
Thea Carter had a huge performance for Rice in the match, shelling out five kills on nine attempts for a .444 hitting percentage, while also tallying an assist, an ace, and four solo blocks, compiling 10 points through the match.
Cindy Tchouangwa continued her dominant ways with 16 kills in the contest, the most of any player. Transfers Samarah Hill and Katrina Jensen has 13 each, controlling the contest and having pivotal kills multiple times.
Savannah Skopal added another 41 assists to her running total, now at an impressive 193 sets through five games this season. She also had a service ace, a block, and nine digs, one shy of the first double-double of her career.
Nia McCardell and Darby Harris played solid defense with a combined 35 digs between the two, accounting for over half of the Owls' 64 digs in the contest.
HOW IT HAPPENED
SET ONE (RICE 25-20)
Both teams came out on equal footing, with neither side pulling too far away from the other. Rice trailed twice early on in the set, but never looked back after taking a 13-12 lead midway through the set. The Owls built a lead up to 23-18 thanks to a 4-0 run which included two solo blocks by Thea Carter. The Owls took the set on a Tchouangwa kill.
SET TWO (RICE 25-22)
Rice built up a 11-4 lead in the set, but the Rebels never backed down and continued to fight back, fighting to a 16-13 deficit before the Owls went on another run, amassing a 20-14 lead which forced the Rebels to burn a timeout. UNLV had the lead cut down to just two points twice in the waning moments of the set, but a kill by Hill put the 25th point on the board for the Owls, who carried a 2-0 lead in the match to the third set.
SET THREE (UNLV 25-21)
Rice built up a 10-5 lead in the third set, but the Rebels again stuck with it, eventually tying the set at 12-12. Both sizes traded points until the Rebels took a 15-14 lead, not looking back afterwards. The Owls were able to close the gap at 20-18, and made a small run at the end of the set thanks to a Carter block and a McCardell kill, but the deficit was too large to overcome at UNLV won set three, 25-21.
SET FOUR (RICE 25-22)
While there were five ties during the final set of the day, the Owls never gave up the lead, and never tied after a 14-14 draw midway through the set. The Owls went on a 6-0 run to take control of the final set, which included two service aces by McCardell. Despite the Rebels scoring 7-3 run right after that run, the Owls never reliquished the lead and took the fourth set, 25-22, to take the match and close the Rice Invitational II with a 2-0 record in the invitational.
UP NEXT
Rice will fly to Louisville, Kentucky, for its first road action of the season, taking on 11th-ranked Creighton on Saturday and Northern Iowa on Sunday.
"I'm very proud of the team for how we locked in today and beat a really good UNLV team today," head coach Genny Volpe had to say about her team's performance. "It has been a week of mostly competition and very little training. But anything we have asked them to do, they are really trying to execute. Today was a full team win. We have multiple people contribute. Kat Jensen had a breakout game and Samarah Hill was just so steady, but mainly, I'm just proud of how several people were just ready to play today."
Thea Carter had a huge performance for Rice in the match, shelling out five kills on nine attempts for a .444 hitting percentage, while also tallying an assist, an ace, and four solo blocks, compiling 10 points through the match.
Cindy Tchouangwa continued her dominant ways with 16 kills in the contest, the most of any player. Transfers Samarah Hill and Katrina Jensen has 13 each, controlling the contest and having pivotal kills multiple times.
Savannah Skopal added another 41 assists to her running total, now at an impressive 193 sets through five games this season. She also had a service ace, a block, and nine digs, one shy of the first double-double of her career.
Nia McCardell and Darby Harris played solid defense with a combined 35 digs between the two, accounting for over half of the Owls' 64 digs in the contest.
HOW IT HAPPENED
SET ONE (RICE 25-20)
Both teams came out on equal footing, with neither side pulling too far away from the other. Rice trailed twice early on in the set, but never looked back after taking a 13-12 lead midway through the set. The Owls built a lead up to 23-18 thanks to a 4-0 run which included two solo blocks by Thea Carter. The Owls took the set on a Tchouangwa kill.
SET TWO (RICE 25-22)
Rice built up a 11-4 lead in the set, but the Rebels never backed down and continued to fight back, fighting to a 16-13 deficit before the Owls went on another run, amassing a 20-14 lead which forced the Rebels to burn a timeout. UNLV had the lead cut down to just two points twice in the waning moments of the set, but a kill by Hill put the 25th point on the board for the Owls, who carried a 2-0 lead in the match to the third set.
SET THREE (UNLV 25-21)
Rice built up a 10-5 lead in the third set, but the Rebels again stuck with it, eventually tying the set at 12-12. Both sizes traded points until the Rebels took a 15-14 lead, not looking back afterwards. The Owls were able to close the gap at 20-18, and made a small run at the end of the set thanks to a Carter block and a McCardell kill, but the deficit was too large to overcome at UNLV won set three, 25-21.
SET FOUR (RICE 25-22)
While there were five ties during the final set of the day, the Owls never gave up the lead, and never tied after a 14-14 draw midway through the set. The Owls went on a 6-0 run to take control of the final set, which included two service aces by McCardell. Despite the Rebels scoring 7-3 run right after that run, the Owls never reliquished the lead and took the fourth set, 25-22, to take the match and close the Rice Invitational II with a 2-0 record in the invitational.
UP NEXT
Rice will fly to Louisville, Kentucky, for its first road action of the season, taking on 11th-ranked Creighton on Saturday and Northern Iowa on Sunday.
Team Stats
UNLV
Rice
Kills
54
61
Errors
15
21
Attempts
142
146
Hitting %
.275
.274
Points
66.0
77.0
Assists
53
59
Aces
2
7
Blocks
10
9
Game Leaders
Kills-Aces-Blocks
Kills
16
Aces
2
Blocks
1
Kills
13
Aces
0
Blocks
0
Kills
13
Aces
0
Blocks
0
Kills
6
Aces
0
Blocks
3
Players Mentioned
MB
/ Women's Volleyball
S
/ Women's VolleyballOH
/ Women's VolleyballOH
/ Women's Volleyball
L/DS
/ Women's Volleyball
S
/ Women's VolleyballOH
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