Owls Take Down Jaguars to Open 2026 Season

Friday, August 28

Mobile, AL

6 PM

Rice University

1-0,0-0American

South Alabama

0-1,0-0Sun Belt

Team	1	2	3	4	5	Final F
Rice	18	25	19	25	15	3
South Alabama	25	17	25	17	13	2

Box Score (PDF)

Owls Take Down Jaguars to Open 2026 Season

8/28/2026 9:26:00 PM | Women's Volleyball

Box Score

By: Kendyll Morris (km215@rice.edu)

HOUSTON — The Rice volleyball team secured its first win of the 2026 season with a 3-2 victory over South Alabama on Friday night at Jaguar Gym in Mobile, Alabama.

The Owls won in five sets (25-18, 25-17, 19-25, 25-17, 15-13) to move to 1-0 on the season. Rice recorded 61 kills and 12 team blocks in the victory, while the match featured 27 tied scores.

Sophomore outside hitter Sydnee Peterson led the Owls with a career-high 24 kills and added 13 digs to record her first career double-double. Kellen Dorotik had 13 kills in the victory.

Kaia Mateo finished with a team-high 48 assists and recorded her first double-double of the season with 10 digs. Stephanie Gutierrez led the Owls with a career-high six blocks, while Arissa Smith added five. Jordan Hummel led the Owls with 19 digs.

Postgame Reaction – Head Coach Genny Volpe
"I'm really proud of how the team pulled out a gritty win tonight. Our defense was pretty solid all evening, but we had some trouble connecting offensively for a while, which is something we'll need to clean up. A big spotlight tonight was the play of Sydnee Peterson. She had a breakout performance, and that is a result of a ton of hard work she has put into her offseason training."

"I thought Mari Furoyama and Jordan Hummel really held down the backcourt in serve receive, and Campbell Love made some clutch digs toward the end of the match. South Alabama is going to beat a lot of teams this year. They have great arms and a very competitive defense to deal with. We know we need to clean some things up, but that was a tough team on the road, so I'm proud we found a way to win."

HOW IT HAPPENED

First Set
The Owls jumped out to an early 3-1 lead before the Jaguars took control, leading 15-13 at the media timeout. Rice hit .037 in the opening set and ultimately dropped the frame, 25-18.

Second Set
The tight contest continued in the second set, which featured nine ties before Rice pulled away late. Peterson recorded seven kills in the set, including back-to-back kills that gave the Owls an 18-11 lead. Peterson accounted for all but two of Rice's kills in the set as the Owls evened the match with a 25-17 victory.

Third Set
Rice quickly took a 6-2 lead, capped by a kill from Gutierrez. Peterson continued her strong play, tying the set at 10-10 with a kill. The Jaguars then pulled away to regain the lead, taking the third set 25-19.

Fourth Set
The Owls responded with a 5-0 run to open the fourth set, with Dorotik contributing three points during the run. Rice extended its lead to 14-2 following a kill from freshman Ashlyn Seay, the first of her career. Despite a late push from the Jaguars, the Owls forced a decisive fifth set with a 25-17 victory.

Fifth Set
The back-and-forth battle continued into the final set, which featured seven ties, but the Owls maintained the lead throughout. Rice opened with a 2-0 advantage, with both points coming from Arissa Smith. South Alabama tied the set for the first time at 6-6, and the teams continued to trade points before Rice pulled away late to secure the 15-13 fifth-set victory and the match, 3-2.

UP NEXT
The Owls will face Georgia State Saturday at 2 p.m. CT on day two of the Jaguar Classic.