Volleyball team makes most of mulligan at home
After a tough opening weekend where the Owls lost in a heartbreaker to the University of Delaware (1-6) and got pushed over by Stanford University (4-0) in the Rice Invitational I, Rice (3-2) picked themselves up and played exceptionally well in the Rice Invitational II as they went undefeated for the weekend with wins over Houston Baptist University (6-2), University of Texas-San Antonio (3-4) and Georgia Tech (4-2).
On Friday morning, the Owls were up bright and early to help take care of business against cross-town rival Houston Baptist. Rice came out of the gates early and never looked back as they won the first set 25-16, and took the last two sets comfortably, 25-18 and 25-17 to win the match 3-0. Junior middle blocker Nancy Cole led the team with 13 kills while sophomore setter Megan Murphy had 31 assists and senior defensive specialist Megan White had 12 digs.
The Owls were not done on Friday as they went into their second match of the day against UTSA. Even though it was eight hours after their previous game, the Owls were still in rhythm from their Houston Baptist win earlier. Rice flew early as they took the first set 25-15. The Roadrunners would not back down as they fought hard to try to steal the second set, but Rice held them off to win the set 25-21 taking a 2-0 lead.
The Owls made sure that UTSA did not have a chance to get back in the match as they delivered the crushing blow in the third set, winning 25-16 and sweeping 3-0. Again, Cole was the star as she delivered a match-high of 14 kills. Murphy was on point as she put up 39 assists along with seven digs and seven kills. White was a force on defense yet again, as she picked up 18 digs.
The Owls got some rest before they faced Georgia Tech in the third and final match on Saturday. The Owls knew that Houston Baptist and UTSA put up a fight, but the Yellow Jackets were going to be a challenge of a different nature, given their preseason accolades.
Rice did not get off to the hot start that they did in the previous two matches as the Yellow Jackets began with a 25-21 set victory. Georgia Tech was primed to take the second set from Rice as well, but the Owls were able to fight them off and won the set in close fashion, 25-23, to tie the match overall at 1-1. The seesaw battle continued as the Yellow Jackets took the upper hand, winning the third set 25-19 to take a 2-1 set lead.
The fighting spirit would not die in the Owls as they fought back in the fourth set in commanding fashion, never letting Georgia Tech into the set and winning it 25-15 to tie things up at two sets a piece. Playing to 15 in the final set, the Owls knew they had to be on their game early. It was neck and neck before Rice pulled away to take the set and the match, 15-11. Freshman outside hitter Lizzy Bache was a dominant player in this match as she hit a team-leading 15 kills along with Cole who had 14 and senior outside hitter Jordan Meredith who contributed 12. Playing five sets boosted Murphy's assist total to 59 while White was stellar in the back with 35 digs.
Head Coach Genny Volpe was very impressed with the ladies this weekend, especially Cole, who was the tournament MVP. Volpe felt the Owls could not have won without her.
"Cole was stellar all weekend," Volpe said. "She basically worked her butt off to be available as a hitter, to make touches on the block, and her presence was huge. They had to follow her and focus on her, which opened up other people. But at the same time, when Nancy got the ball she found a way to do something positive with it."
To cap off the good weekend for the Owls, White was named the Conference USA Defensive Player of the Week. White's 35 digs against Georgia Tech were a career high and this marked the first time she received the award.
The Owls are now 3-2 overall and are currently playing at the Wahine Volleyball Classic hosted by the University of Hawai'i. The Owls played 12th ranked Hawai'i (5-1) last night and will play the University of Cincinnati (5-3) tonight and Pacific University (3-2) tomorrow. Rice has never beaten Hawai'i in 13 matches while the Owls are 1-0 against Cincinnati and 0-1 vs. Pacific.
Rice hopes that they can add to their three-game win streak and keep the momentum going. After the Wahine Volleyball Classic, Rice comes back to Texas where they will head to the Chilly Fillmore's Stephen F. Austin Invitational to play against North Dakota University, Sam Houston State University and host, Stephen F. Austin State University.
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