Rice University’s Student Newspaper — Since 1916

Friday, March 29, 2024 — Houston, TX

Volleyball upsets WKU in thriller

By Aaron Shi     11/4/15 5:27am

On Halloween afternoon, the Rice University volleyball team defeated the conference-leading No. 22 Western Kentucky University in a thrilling five-setter (25-23, 25-21, 22-25, 23-25, 16-14) at Tudor Fieldhouse, snapping Western Kentucky’s 17-match win streak and avenging Rice’s five-set loss to Western Kentucky last year in the Conference USA championship match. 

With the win, the Owls hand Western Kentucky their first C-USA loss of the season and improve to an 18-8 overall record and 8-4 in conference play, placing them third in the C-USA standings.

According to Rice Head Coach Genny Volpe, the Owls performed and competed at a high level.



 “Today was fun,” Volpe said. ”Our team has been up and down all season, but it seems like when we play strong opponents, we step up our game. It was a battle to the very end, and we happened to come out on top this time. It was great volleyball between two evenly matched teams that run a balanced offense.”

Rice recorded season-highs in kills (83) and assists (81) with three players posting double-doubles. The C-USA Setter of the Week, sophomore setter Madison McDaniel, set a career-high 70 assists in addition to notching 12 digs. Junior outside hitter Leah Mikesky led all players with 21 kills (.280) complemented with 16 digs, and senior outside hitter Noelle Whitlock achieved a match and career-high 24 digs while also contributing 16 kills (.231). Whitlock also eclipsed 1,000 career digs late in the third set and became the 16th Owl in school history to reach such a feat.

Whitlock said the achievement helped propel the team to victory.

“I think [this achievement] helped me realize that this is going to be a big win,” Whitlock said after the match. “That would make that day so much better, just having both this win and 1,000 digs.” 

Rice took the first set 25-23 without ever trailing and held Western Kentucky to a .222 hitting percentage. The Owls never trailed in the second set either, winning 25-21 and led by as much as seven, maintaining a match-high .465 kill percentage. However, the Toppers rallied from behind to take the second and third sets 25-22 and 25-23, respectively, to force a deciding fifth set. The Toppers jumped out to an early 4-0 lead in the fifth set, but the Owls responded with a 7-1 run and never looked back, winning 16-14 to complete the upset.

Rice now prepares for their upcoming road games against the University of Texas, San Antonio on Wednesday at 6 p.m. and Marshall University on Sunday at 12 p.m. UTSA sits just above Rice at second place in the Conference USA standings, while Marshall is in eighth place with an even 6-6 record.



More from The Rice Thresher

SPORTS 3/26/24 11:39pm
‘They weren’t afraid of the stage’: Owls fall 70-60 to LSU in close March Madness opener

In an arena with more than double the capacity of Tudor Fieldhouse, Rice women’s basketball forward Malia Fisher admitted that at one point the Pete Maravich Assembly Center in Baton Rouge, La.,  was so loud she couldn’t hear herself think. “It was a different environment, but you get used to it fast and then you just kind of acknowledge it and put it out of your mind,” Fisher, a junior, said. “That's what we did.”

SPORTS 3/26/24 11:38pm
Rob Lanier named men’s basketball head coach

Less than two weeks after parting ways with head coach Scott Pera, Rice Athletics announced they have hired Rob Lanier as the program’s 26th head coach. Lanier was previously the head basketball coach at Southern Methodist University, a position he was dismissed from three days ago, on March 21. 


Comments

Please note All comments are eligible for publication by The Rice Thresher.