Volleyball earns national bid
Prior to last weekend's match against Texas Christian University at Tudor Fieldhouse, only the upperclassmen on the volleyball team could remember the last time the Owls played a home contest on Autry Court. But even the seniors had no recollection of the last time Rice received an invitation to the NCAA Tournament. The Owls (23-7) closed out the regular season last Friday with a 3-1 win over the visiting Horned Frogs, but the victory party extended through the postseason selection show Sunday night, when the NCAA officially announced that Rice was one of the 64 teams invited to the national competiton. This is the second time that the volleyball team has qualified for the NCAA tournament in its 27 year history - the last time was in 2004.
Rice is one of four teams in the Austin regional, which is hosted by No. 3 national seed University of Texas. The Owls' first game will be tonight at 5 p.m. against Wichita State University, and the winner will face either UT or Lamar University. Wichita State brings an impressive resumé to the contest at Gregory Gymnasium - the 13th-ranked Shockers (29-1) were undefeated before falling to upset-minded and eventual champion Missouri State University in the semifinals of the Missouri Valley Conference tournament, which was held in Wichita last weekend.
Volpe knows her team can play with the Shockers, but she said the players understand the challenge they will be facing.
"They had a really good season," Volpe said of the Shockers. "[But] it's definitely a match we think we can win. We played them in the spring, so we know we can be competitive with them...However, they have won a lot this season so they have a lot of confidence, I'm sure."
Wichita State has been dispatching opponents with ease thanks to an offense that averages an MVC-leading 13.7 kills per set, most of which come from junior Emily Stockman. She has a total of 404 kills on the season, nearly 150 more than anyone else on the team, and her 3.71 kills per set lead the MVC. The Shockers also boast a strong supporting cast: Freshman setter Mary Elizabeth Hooper averages 10.5 assists per game, and senior libero Kelly Broussard has 591 digs so far this year.
Despite Wichita State's notable credentials, the Shockers will be tested by a Rice team with its own impressive array of talent. Seniors Karyn Morgan and Jessica Holderness, and junior Natalie Bogan all logged over 300 kills during the regular season and freshman Ashleigh McCord was only six kills shy of that mark with 294. Combined, the talented group has vaulted Rice to the top of the Conference USA pack with 14.61 kills per game.
The difference in the match may well come down to defense, where the Owls have notable amounts of quickness. The team is last in C-USA in blocks per game, but makes up for it with a wide conference lead in digs per game, which should help to counter some of Wichita State's potent attack potential. Wichita State, on the other hand, is in the middle of the MVC pack in both categories.
Compared to the excitement surrounding the NCAA tournament selection, The Owls' win over TCU seemed lackluster. Nevertheless, Volpe said the match meant much to the upperclassmen who had not played a contest at Autry Court in nearly two years.
"[The team was] so happy to see all their hard work come to fruition," Volpe said. "They knew we had a good season but they just needed the reward of selection to the tournament...The underclassmen were really happy for the seniors. Sheer joy of younger folks for their older team members was what I really noticed [while we watched the selection show together]. They were really glad the seniors were able to do that. For the rest of the team we hope to make this a tradition for Rice volleyball."
Rice opened well against the Horned Frogs, jumping out to an early ten-point lead and first-set win. TCU was at the tail end of a brutal three-week road trip that saw them win only one game in five matches, but even so, the Owls had a tough time keeping their opponents down in subsequent sets. The Horned Frogs managed to grab the second frame thanks to several inaccurate shots from the Owls' front line - Rice's hitting percentage was a measly .137 for the set. Bogan and Holderness brought the team back in set three, sparking several rallies with four kills each.
TCU was down only three points at 14-11 before the Owls ran away with an 11-4 run and the set win. The Horned Frogs rebounded in the fourth set, pressing Rice to a 25-25 tie. A McCord kill after a Lam serve gave the home team a one-point advantage, and a bizarre play subsequently gave the Owls the 3-1 match victory: Lam's next serve was clearly headed out of bounds, but it hit TCU's Katelyn Blackwood in the head before she could get out of the way, giving Rice the final point.
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