Owls Open Road Trip with Loss

Friday, October 2

Tampa, FL

5 PM

Rice University

7-8,1-2American

South Florida

3-10,2-1American

Team	1	2	3	Final F
Rice	17	15	23	0
South Fla.	25	25	25	3

Box Score (PDF)

10/2/2026 7:55:00 PM | Women's Volleyball

Box Score

By: Kendyll Morris (km215@rice.edu)

TAMPA, Fla. — Rice volleyball fell 3-0 to South Florida on Friday at The Corral in its first conference road match of the season.

The Owls (7-8, 1-2 American) fell by set scores of 25-17, 25-15 and 25-23. Rice hit .113 as a team, while South Florida hit .337.

Sydnee Peterson led the Owls with nine kills and 12 digs. Savannah Skopal recorded a team-high 12 assists, while Maggie Croft led Rice with two blocks.

HOW IT HAPPENED
First Set
The match opened with a close contest, with the teams trading points early. Arissa Smith recorded back-to-back points and later added a kill to tie the set at 6-6. Rice took a 9-8 lead on a kill from Amalia Simmons and held the advantage until South Florida took a 13-12 lead. The Bulls pulled away late, as the Owls dropped the opening set 25-17.

Second Set
Rice secured the first point of the set on an Ashlyn Seay kill before South Florida responded with a 5-0 run to take a 6-2 lead. The Owls broke up several Bulls runs but were unable to close the gap. South Florida took the second set 25-15.

Third Set
The third set was the closest of the match, with the teams trading points early. South Florida recorded the first run of the set to take a 9-5 lead. Rice battled back, cutting the deficit to one at 16-15 following back-to-back kills from Peterson. The Bulls regained control late, but the Owls closed the set with a 3-0 run before South Florida secured the 25-23 win.

UP NEXT
Rice will face Florida Atlantic on Sunday at noon CT. The match will be streamed on ESPN+.