It’s 10:30 p.m. on a hot August night as the women’s club ultimate frisbee team wraps up the first of their twice-weekly practices. Mosquitoes hover over the moisture-soaked field and the humidity is palpable in the evening air. The players gather together in a huddle and begin to chant.
The defending regular-season Conference USA champion Rice soccer team notched its first conference win on Sunday night, following a heartbreaking 3-2 home loss to Middle Tennessee State University on Thursday with a 3-1 defeat of the visiting University of Texas, San Antonio Roadrunners.
While both the soccer and football teams had last weekend off, there was still plenty of action to go around in the Rice sports world. Here are a few highlights from the Owls’ weekend slate.
It was almost 20 years ago that redshirt senior running back Austin Walter’s father first realized his son might have a future in the football world.
The Rice volleyball team dispatched three non-conference opponents on its way to a perfect record at the Rice Adidas Invitational II held in Tudor Fieldhouse last weekend.
In less than two weeks, a matchup on Sept. 22 between Lovett College and Sid Richardson College will kick off the opening weekend of Rice Powderpuff.
Last September, I wrote a column in the Rice Thresher titled “Rice football must build a winning culture.” In the article, I pleaded for Rice to make two changes: 1) fire its then-head football coach David Bailiff, and 2) liven its mundane stadium atmosphere.
For Rice’s 11 residential colleges, a new freshman flag football season means hope is renewed for a championship run.
Not even a lightning strike could deter the Rice men’s and women’s cross country teams on Friday. After their races were delayed due to a nearby storm, both teams responded with strong performances in the season-opening Norry Hersey Rice Invitational. The men’s team emerged victorious with a win over second-place University of Houston, while the women’s team finished second only to perennial powerhouse University of Texas.
Another week, another closer-than-expected loss for Rice football. The Owls entered their game against the University of Hawaii as a 17.5-point underdog, according to ESPN, and lost by a score of 43-29. That scoreline is actually somewhat misleading—for much of the fourth quarter, it was a one-possession game. After another encouraging defeat, here are some takeaways for the Owls.
It has been a somewhat slow start for the Rice Owls soccer team over the first three weeks of the 2018 season. Last year, the Owls were once ranked No. 24 in the nation and earned a spot in the 2017 NCAA Women’s Soccer Championship tournament.
After winning its first two matches of the Rice Adidas Invitational, the volleyball team entered Saturday night’s match against Houston Baptist University with hopes of completing a tournament sweep.
It was hard to know what to expect coming into this year’s edition of the Bayou Bucket. All of the athletic department’s talk of an offseason turnaround was well and good, but after a narrow victory over an FCS school in the season opener, there was some question as to whether the Owls’ “Intellectual Brutality” mantra was, well, brutal enough.
In a game in which Rice was a 26 point underdog, the Owls led deep into the third quarter of the Bayou Bucket, in the end falling to the University of Houston by a score of 45-27. The first half was especially strong for Rice, which went into the locker room with a 24-17 advantage. In their first game of the season against Prairie View A&M University, the Owls’ strong run game enabled them to succeed early.
All eyes will be on University of Houston defensive tackle Ed Oliver when Rice takes the field for its first offensive possession on Saturday in the Bayou Bucket.
Despite a Saturday setback, it was a mostly successful season-opening weekend at the Red Raider Classic for Rice’s volleyball team.
Rice’s Intramural Sports program will introduce scheduling changes in the fall 2018 semester, primarily affecting students who play college flag football and outdoor soccer. As a result of changes recommended by Rice University Assistant Director for Competitive Sports Chris Watkins, college coed flag football and college men’s flag football will now be played during the fall semester instead of the spring semester.
This Saturday, Rice football will take on the University of Houston in the 42nd edition of the Bayou Bucket.
In his opening statement to reporters after Rice’s 31-28 victory over Prairie View A&M University, head football coach Mike Bloomgren let out a sigh of relief.
Men’s Cross Country This year, Rice’s men’s cross country team will look to build upon last season’s solid showing that saw them finish third at the Conference-USA Championships and seventh at NCAA South Central Regionals.
