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Sports

SPORTS 10/5/21 10:42pm

Football opens conference play with win over Southern Miss

By Pavithr Goli

Rice football opened conference play with a 24-19 victory against the University of Southern Mississippi University on Saturday. Playing at home in front of over 16,000 fans, the Owls won their first conference opener since 2017 to bring their record to 2-3. The Owls opened the game with a scoring drive and kept that momentum for the rest of the four quarters, leading throughout the game. 

SPORTS 10/5/21 10:38pm

Nicole Lennon’s killer instinct

By Reed Myers

When she first arrived at Rice four years ago, senior outside hitter Nicole Lennon knew she wanted to find a way to immortalize her career. Now, as she heads into the stretch of her fifth and final season at Rice, Lennon has found a way to do just that. After more than four seasons playing a key role in bringing the Owls to the national stage, the two-time Conference USA player of the year is closing in on Rice’s all-time kills record. 

SPORTS 9/28/21 10:51pm

No. 24 soccer leaves Lady Techsters on read in last-gasp win

By Daniel Schrager

Rice soccer didn’t make it easy for themselves Friday night at Holloway Field, but they were able to pull out a win over Louisiana Tech University to bring their conference record to 2-0. With the game tied at 1-1 in the 81st minute, freshman midfielder Catarina Albuquerque connected with a header to break the tie. The Owls held on in the final nine minutes to secure the win. According to head coach Brian Lee, the team was confident they’d get the win, even with the score tied so late in the game.

SPORTS 9/28/21 10:50pm

Both cross country teams place in the top three at A&M Invitational

By Pavithr Goli

Both the Rice men’s and the women’s cross country teams impressed this past Saturday morning at the Texas A&M Invitational in College Station, Texas. The women’s team placed second overall at the meet, placing 26 points behind the hosts. For the second straight meet, sophomore Grace Forbes won the individual title as she beat the next collegiate runner by over 30 seconds in the 5k race. 

SPORTS 9/28/21 10:49pm

Volleyball swept by No. 1 Texas

By Cadan Hanson

After the 58-0 blowout on the football field last week, there was hope that Wednesday’s volleyball game between Rice and the University of Texas, Austin would turn out differently. Following the two upsets in 2019 and 2020, when the Owls beat the No. 3 and No. 2 UT teams respectively, the team looked to pull off a three-peat of upsets when they hosted the No. 1 ranked Longhorns. However, the Owls could not handle the power of the undefeated Longhorns as they fell in three straight sets (25-14, 25-14, 25-14).

SPORTS 9/28/21 10:47pm

Roelfsema’s soccer journey spans three cities, 5,000 miles

By Reed Myers

Just a few years ago, nobody could have guessed that Mijke Roelfsema’s soccer journey would have taken her to Rice, least of all herself. Now, the senior defender is front and center as the Rice soccer team attempts to fight its way back to the NCAA tournament, after their first-ever sweet sixteen appearance last season. Roelfsema’s long and winding soccer journey, which now has her as the focal point for the Owls defense, began over 5,000 miles away when she was just  five years old living in Holland. 

SPORTS 9/21/21 10:55pm

Conference realignment is on its way, Rice can’t afford to miss out

By Daniel Schrager

To any Rice alumni pining for some nostalgia about the Rice sports of yesteryear, the last few weeks must have been quite the treat. The soccer team, which just wrapped up its non conference schedule, played three consecutive games against the University of Texas, Austin, the University of Houston and Southern Methodist University. If you notice the common thread between these teams, it’s that they were all members of the former Southwest Conference. Soccer wasn’t alone in this trend. Football’s first three games, against the University of Arkansas, Houston and Texas, were all against former SWC foes. Volleyball, which has already played SMU and former SWC member Baylor University, is set to play Texas this week.

SPORTS 9/21/21 10:53pm

Volleyball gets swept by No. 12 Baylor, sweeps McNeese state

By Pavithr Goli

The Rice volleyball team traveled to Waco, TX this past weekend to compete in the Baylor Classic, where the Owls faced No. 12 Baylor University on Thursday evening and McNeese State University on Friday evening. Losing to the nationally-ranked Bears in straight sets on day one of the Classic, the Owls bounced back with a sweep over McNeese State on day two. After the weekend’s matches, the Owls are now 5-4 on the season with three of their losses coming to top-15 ranked teams. 

SPORTS 9/21/21 10:52pm

But because it’s hard: Owls implode in Austin

By Daniel Schrager

It’s probably safe to assume that we’ll all be long dead by the time Rice’s marketing department runs out of ways to make use of John F. Kennedy’s 1962 speech from Rice Stadium — the one where he famously asks, “why does Rice play Texas?” But after this weekend, it’s starting to look like it might be even longer before the Rice football team manages to beat their in-state rivals.

SPORTS 9/14/21 9:55pm

Not because it’s easy: Rice heads to UT

By Daniel Schrager

It’s well established that Rice hasn’t beaten the University of Texas, Austin at football in a while – 27 years to be exact. You’d have to go back even longer, to 1965, to find the last time the Owls did what they’ll try to do on Saturday – beat the Longhorns in Austin. As they prepare, head coach Mike Bloomgren said that the Owls can’t afford to focus on the magnitude of the game.

SPORTS 9/14/21 9:51pm

Volleyball sweeps the weekend, records two wins at home

By Shiloh Miller

Over the weekend, Rice volleyball closed out their homestand in strong fashion, with sweeps of  Louisiana State University and Sam Houston State University in the Adidas Invitational II. On Friday evening, the Owls conducted a 3-0 performance over the LSU Tigers inside Tudor Fieldhouse. The Owls followed this up with another home win over the SHSU Bearkats on Sunday afternoon for their second sweep on the weekend and their fourth consecutive win. These back-to-back sweeps bring the Owls’ season record to 4-3. 

SPORTS 9/14/21 9:48pm

Owls kick the Bayou Bucket against Houston

By Pavithr Goli

The Rice football team failed to take home the Bayou Bucket on Saturday in front of a home crowd of over 26,000 fans, losing to the University of Houston by a score of 44-7. The loss dropped the Owls to 0-2 on the season, while it capped off a big week for their crosstown rivals, who were recently invited to join the Big 12 Conference, with their first win of the season.

SPORTS 9/7/21 10:42pm

Owls split on the weekend, get first win of the season in front of fans

By Cadan Hanson

Last week, Rice volleyball hosted the University of Oregon and Southern Methodist University in the Adidas Invitational I. On Thursday, the Owls fell to the No. 13 Ducks in four sets, their first game with fans in attendance in nearly two years. Later that weekend, the Owls recorded their first win of the season against SMU. The matches over the weekend brought the Owls record to 1-3 on the season. 

SPORTS 9/7/21 10:41pm

Soccer draws with UT, stays undefeated

By Daniel Schrager

Two overtime periods proved not enough to decide a winner between the Rice soccer team and the University of Texas, Austin on Sunday night at Holloway Field. The game went the full 110 minutes, but after the teams traded goals early in the second half, neither team was able to break the 1-1 tie. After the game, head coach Brian Lee said that he was happy with his team’s ability to go toe-to-toe with a strong Texas team.

SPORTS 9/7/21 10:37pm

Owls fall to Razorbacks 38-17 after fourth quarter collapse

By Pavithr Goli

The Rice football team lost their first game of the season in a 38-17 defeat to the University of Arkansas. Playing away from home at Razorback Stadium in front of over 64,000 fans, the Owls kept up with the SEC team for a majority of the game, holding the score to a 17-17 tie at the end of the third period. However, at the start of the fourth quarter, the game shifted in the favor of the Razorbacks as they were able to capitalize on several Rice turnovers to run away with the game. 

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