Volleyball Announces 2025 Schedule
6/20/2025 11:45:00 AM | Women's Volleyball
Schedule is headlined with home matches against three Power 4 Texas, one Final Four team
HOUSTON — The 2025 Rice Volleyball schedule has been announced, head coach Genny Volpe announced on Friday morning.
The slate features the return of the Texas A&M Aggies and Texas Longhorns to Tudor Fieldhouse, plus a return trip from TCU and a trip to Waco by the Owls. The Owls will face off against a total of nine NCAA tournament teams from a year ago, including four conference tournament champions and five teams that were ranked in the final AVCA poll, and a squad who played in last year's national championship.
"Hands down, this will be the most challenging non-conference schedule that we have ever put together in my 22 seasons at Rice," said Volpe. "Our team is fired up at the opportunity to compete against the nation's best. We wouldn't schedule these matches if I didn't think we were fully capable of not only competing with these teams, but knocking some of them off as well.
"Hosting teams such as Texas A&M, Texas, and TCU this will allow our Rice fans to experience top 25 volleyball right here in Tudor Fieldhouse multiple times," Volpe continued. "The AAC will be very competitive this year, and we look to make a serious run at a championship. With a core group of returners, along with some elite transfers and freshmen, we are excited to start the season!"
The schedule kicks off with the Rice Invitational I at Tudor Fieldhouse, where the Rice Owls and the Texas A&M Aggies will kick off the 2025 season on August 29. Last season, the Aggies were the sixth seed in the Lincoln Regional, finishing the season ranked 16th. It'll be the first meeting between the squads since 2019. The Rice Invitational I concludes on the 31st with a match against Central Arkansas.
Rice hosts its only non-conference midweek on September 3, welcoming the Longhorns to Tudor Fieldhouse for the first time since 2021. Rice took the 2019 match against the third-ranked Longhorns in Tudor, 3-2, before returning to Austin in March of 2021 and taking down the second-ranked Longhorns. Texas reached the third round of the NCAA Tournament last season and finished the year ranked 11th.
The Owls begin a two-week road trip, beginning with the Baylor Classic in Waco, Texas, where the Owls will meet St. Mary's (CA) on Sept. 6 before facing off against host Baylor of Sept. 7. The Bears advanced to the second round of the NCAA Tournament as the fourth seed in the Lincoln Regional last year, finishing the year ranked 20th.
Rice rounds out the non-conference road matches with the Bluejay Classic in Omaha, Nebraska, facing three teams that all made the NCAA Tournament with two winning their conference tournaments in Northern Iowa and Creighton and a Final Four team in Louisville. The Owls will take on Northern Iowa on Sept. 12, face host Creighton on Sept. 13, and finish the Bluejay Classic against Louisville on Sept. 14.
The non-conference slate comes to a close with the Rice Invitational II beginning on Sept. 18, where Rice will take on Texas A&M - Corpus Christi, the defending Southland Conference tournament champion, to open the invitational. Rice will host Cornell on Sept. 19, then take on TCU, who finished last season ranked 25th, to finish out the invitational on Sept. 20.
Rice will open conference play at home with two home matches, beginning with Temple on Sept. 26, followed by Tulsa on Sept. 28.
The Owls will then open October with two road matches, heading to Alabama to take on UAB on Oct. 3, then heading to Tennessee to take on Memphis on Oct. 5.
Rice's first split week will begin by welcoming the South Florida Bulls, who won the AAC regular season crown last season, to Tudor Fieldhouse for the first time ever on Oct. 10. Rice will then head west to San Antonio to take on UTSA to close the week out on Oct. 12.
The following week will also be a split week for Rice, taking on Tulane in Wednesday night action on Oct. 15, before returning home to take on the defending AAC Tournament champion, Wichita State, on Oct. 19.
Rice will face off against UTSA at home on Oct. 24 to conclude the home-and-home with the Roadrunners, before facing off against the Green Wave again on Oct. 26, this time at Tudor Fieldhouse.
The Owls will fly to the Tar Heel State for two matches, first facing off against the East Carolina Pirates in Greenville for the first time since 2010 on Halloween night before taking on the Charlotte 49ers on Nov. 2.
Rice's final home swing will begin on Nov. 7 with a match against the North Texas Mean Green. Rice's final home match of the season will be on Nov. 9, where the Owls host the Florida Atlantic Owls.
The final week of regular season competition will begin on Nov. 14, as Rice returns to Wichita, Kansas, to take on the Shockers. For the second-consecutive year, Rice will finish the regular season with a road match at North Texas on Nov. 16.
The American Athletic Conference Tournament will begin on Friday, Nov. 21, and go until Sunday, Nov. 23. This year's tournament will be hosted by South Florida in Tampa.
New season ticket sales and single game tickets will begin at a later date. Stay tuned to RiceOwls.com to learn when those season tickets will go on sale.
As a reminder, Rice Athletics is switching ticketing providers to Paciolan. Once July 1st hits, Rice ticketing will be offline for the holiday weekend as the office continues to work on the transition. In the meantime, if you are interested in purchasing tickets for the upcoming athletics season, please fill out the interest form above and someone from the sales team will reach out once they have completed the ticketing transition.