Owls Cap Perfect Weekend with Win over Mississippi State

Sunday, August 30

Mobile, AL

11 AM

Rice University

3-0,0-0American

Mississippi State

2-1,0-0SEC

Team	1	2	3	4	Final F
Mississippi St.	20	22	28	17	1
Rice	25	25	26	25	3

Volleyball vs Mississippi State 8/30/2026

Owls Cap Perfect Weekend with Win over Mississippi State

8/30/2026 2:24:00 PM | Women's Volleyball

Box Score

By: Kendyll Morris (km215@rice.edu)

MOBILE, Ala. — Rice volleyball wrapped up the Jaguar Classic with a 3-1 victory over Mississippi State on Sunday, completing a 3-0 opening weekend.

The Owls (3-0) finished the weekend undefeated with set scores of 25-20, 25-22, 26-28, 25-17. Rice hit .338 as a team and held the Bulldogs to a .160 hitting percentage while recording 15 team blocks.

Freshman Ashlyn Seay led the Owls offensively with 21 kills while hitting .667. Kellen Dorotik added 15 kills, while Sydnee Peterson recorded 11 kills and 11 digs for her second career double-double.

Kaia Mateo recorded her second double-double of the season, finishing with a team-high 53 assists and 12 digs. Arissa Smith led the Owls at the net with eight blocks.

Postgame Reaction – Head Coach Genny Volpe
"I'm just really proud of this team and how much progress we made over the course of the weekend. We had different people step up at different times to lead the charge. Kaia was incredible with distribution. AJ was steady and came into the match and just dominated. Kellen was a big problem for opponents all weekend. We still have a lot to work on, but overall, this was a great start to the season."

HOW IT HAPPENED

First Set
Rice came out firing, opening the match with a 5-0 run capped by an ace from Mari Furoyama. The Owls continued to control the opening frame, building a 17-10 advantage before Mississippi State attempted to mount a comeback. A timely timeout helped Rice regain its momentum, and Seay continued her strong start with five kills in the set. The Owls held the Bulldogs to a .086 hitting percentage and closed out the opening frame on a kill from Arissa Smith, 25-20.

Second Set
Mississippi State took an early 7-4 lead and reached 15 points first at the media timeout. Rice battled back behind Seay, who tied the set at 17-17 with a kill. The teams continued to trade points before the Owls used a 4-0 run to take a 21-18 advantage. Mississippi State attempted to rally late, but back-to-back Bulldog errors gave Rice the 25-22 set victory.

Third Set
The Owls again jumped out to an early lead, using a 4-0 run to take an 8-5 advantage. Rice reached 15 points first at the media timeout before Mississippi State battled back to tie the set at 19-19. The Bulldogs earned the first set point at 24-23, but Rice responded to force extra points. After the Owls earned a set point of their own, Mississippi State eventually claimed the third set, 28-26.

Fourth Set
Mississippi State once again grabbed an early lead, but Rice quickly answered. A 3-0 run put the Owls ahead 15-14, and Rice took control from there. The Owls closed the match with a 5-0 run to reach match point at 24-16 before Arissa Smith delivered the final blow with a kill to secure the 25-17 set victory.

UP NEXT
The Owls will return home Wednesday to begin a two-week homestand, starting with a matchup against Tarleton State. First serve is set for 6 p.m. at Tudor Fieldhouse, with the match streaming on ESPN+.