Owls Take Set Off No. 5 Louisville

Friday, September 11

Houston, Texas

6 PM

Rice University

5-2,0-0American

Louisville

7-1,0-0ACC

Team	1	2	3	4	Final F
Louisville	25	25	24	25	3
Rice	14	17	26	12	1

Box Score (PDF)

Photo by: Allyson Collins - Rice Athletics

9/11/2026 9:28:00 PM | Women's Volleyball

Box Score

By: Kendyll Morris (km215@rice.edu)

HOUSTON — Rice volleyball opened the Rice Invitational II with a 3-1 loss to No. 5 Louisville in Tudor Fieldhouse on Friday night.

The Owls (5-2) won the third set 26-24 but dropped the opening two sets, 25-14 and 25-17, before falling 25-12 in the fourth. Rice hit .107 and Louisville hit .304 in the match.

Freshman Ashlyn Seay led the Owls with 10 kills on the night. Kaia Mateo paced the offense with 20 assists and Mari Furoyama led the defense with 14 digs. Arissa Smith and Sydnee Peterson both had four blocks in the match.

Postgame Reaction – Head Coach Genny Volpe
"I'm really proud of the team for a lot of things from tonight's match. I felt like we made some uncharacteristic mistakes early in set one, but we were able to refocus and settle in. I was really proud of how the team adjusted after that. Sets two and three were much better overall, and in set three, we were able to get a lead and maintain it. To show that kind of resilience against a quality team like Louisville showed a lot of composure, maturity and fight. AJ took some amazing, fearless swings, which is really encouraging. I was really encouraged by the fearlessness I saw from the team tonight."

HOW IT HAPPENED

First Set
The Cardinals dominated the opening set, using an early 8-0 run to take a 17-6 lead. The Owls mounted a late surge but were unable to close the gap. Rice hit .185 in the set, while Louisville hit .519. The Cardinals took the opening frame, 25-14.

Second Set
The Owls took an early 4-3 lead, off a solo block by Smith. The Cardinals went on a 4-0 run to regain the lead. Rice answered with a 3-0 run of their own to tie it at seven capped by a Mateo kill. Rice would tie it again later at 11 with a kill from Peterson. Louisville took the reins from there, securing the second set 25-17. There were six tied scores in the set.

Third Set
Rice started off the third set with a 2-0 lead before Mateo capitalized with an ace for the 4-2 lead. The two teams played back and forth and Rice would force the media timeout on a Amalia Simmons kill. Louisville scored back-to-back points out of the break and later went on a 4-0 run to take their first lead of the set. Rice did not let them live there long when Peterson had a kill to take the 18-17 Rice lead. The Cardinals tried to secure the match sweep with a late 3-0 run. However, Rice went on a 3-0 run of their own to close out the set 26-24 and force the fourth set. Seay had five kills in the set and Rice held Louisville to a .130 hitting percentage.

Fourth Set
The Cardinals opened the final frame with a 6-0 run before Kellen Dorotik put the Owls on the board with a kill. Louisville maintained control throughout the set, closing out the match with a 25-12 victory.

UP NEXT
The Owls will face UNI on Saturday for day two of the Rice Invitational II. The match will start at 4 p.m. and will be streamed on ESPN+.