Owls Fall to Tulsa in American Championship

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TAMPA — The Owls fought for every point but could not hold on in 3-1 loss to three-seeded Tulsa on Sunday at The Corral.

The 17-game winning streak of No. 1 seed Rice (21–9, 15–1 American) came to an end in a loss to No. 3 seed Tulsa (25–6, 12–4 American), which included a marathon 68-point second set.

Two Owls, Taylor Preston and Arissa Smith, were named to the American All-Tournament team after their stellar tournament performances.

Preston led the Owls with 15 kills while Kellen Dorotik and Lademi Ogunlana had 11. Freshman Sydnee Peterson hit .474 in the match leading the Owls.

Kaia Mateo had 30 assists while Savannah Skopal had 21. Arissa Smith had seven blocks on the day.

How It Happened
First set
The opening frame was tightly contested until the end when the Owls were unable to break up the Tulsa scoring. Tulsa went on a 4-0 run to secure the opening set 25-18. Rice hit .113 in the frame while Tulsa hit .300.

Second set
In a historic second set, Rice outlasted Tulsa 35-33. The Owls opened with a 4-1 lead before Tulsa tied it at 8. Rice evened the score again at 17-17. After trading runs and enduring 11 set points, the Owls won the set on a successful challenge to tie the match.

Third set
Tulsa struck first, but the set remained close until a 4-0 run gave the Golden Hurricane a 19-15 lead. Rice rallied but came up short, falling 25-23.

Fourth set
Rice jumped out to a 4-2 lead before Tulsa responded with a 4-0 run. The Owls briefly regained the lead, but Tulsa answered with a 5-0 run to go ahead 21-18. Rice could not recover and dropped the final set 25-12.

UP NEXT
The Owls will learn their postseason fate on the NCAA Tournament Selection Show, which will air on Sunday, Nov. 30 on ESPN at 5p.m. CT.

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