Rice falls in five sets to Louisana Tech

By Aaron Shi 10/28/15 5:47am

In a tight five-setter, the Rice University volleyball team surrendered a 2-1 set lead to Louisiana Tech University and fell short Sunday evening (21-25, 25-12, 25-16, 26-28, 13-15) at the Thomas Assembly Center.

Coming off a three-game winning streak and a convincing 3-0 win against Middle Tennessee State University, the Owls drop to a 16-8 overall record and 6-4 in conference play with this loss, placing them fifth in Conference USA standings.

From a purely statistical perspective, the Owls looked dominant, controlling the total kills (64-58), hitting percentage (.244-.199), assists (59-53), digs (77-62) and blocks (10.0-9.0). Rice junior outside hitter Leah Mikesky led all players with 20 kills (.340) on 47 attacks, marking her fifth 20-plus kills game of the season, for 22.5 points. Sophomore setter Madison McDaniel and senior outside hitter Noelle Whitlock each contributed double-doubles, notching 48 assists with 18 digs and 13 kills with 18 digs, respectively.

On the defensive end, sophomore middle blocker Portia Okafor recorded a match-high four blocks while posting up 10 kills (.471). However, a balanced attack from the Lady Techsters proved to be too much with four players in 10-plus kills territory, led by senior outside hitter Helena Gunnarsdottir, who had 14 kills and 15.5 points.

According to Head Coach Genny Volpe, the team had a lackluster performance.

“We were missing a focus and killer instinct today, and it caused us to lose a critical match,” Volpe said. “We have to mature as a team.”

Despite losing the first set 25-21, the Owls rallied to a 2-1 lead by taking the second (25-12) and third (25-16) sets with match-high percentages in sideouts (.83 and .70, respectively). Toward the end of the fourth set, the Owls held a commanding 20-14 lead and appeared to be taking home a fourth straight win but dropped 16 points in the next 20 to allow the Techsters to force a final fifth set. In the deciding fifth set, Rice jumped out to an early 11-7 lead, but Louisiana Tech returned the favor with a 8-2 run to take the match.

The Owls look to bounce back as they host the University of Southern Mississippi (21-7, 8-3) on Thursday at 6 p.m. and the C-USA leader No. 22 Western Kentucky (23-2, 10-0) on Saturday at 2 p.m. Both games will be played at Tudor Fieldhouse.