Rice sports on hold due to Harvey

By Andrew Grottkau     8/29/17 4:32pm

With Hurricane Harvey bearing down on Houston, Rice sports are on hold. The football and volleyball teams have been on the road for the duration of the storm, and the soccer team has had a match canceled due to the weather. Here is a roundup of the ways each team is dealing with the effects of Hurricane Harvey.

Football

The Rice football team has made it back to the United States after its 62-7 loss to Stanford in Sydney, but it has not made it back to Houston. The team is currently practicing at Texas Christian University in Fort Worth in preparation for its upcoming game against the University of Texas, El Paso on Sept. 9. Head coach David Bailiff said TCU, Baylor University, Southern Methodist University and UTEP all offered to host the football team while it makes its way back from Houston. He ultimately decided to head to TCU in part because of his relationship with Horned Frogs’ head coach Gary Patterson and athletic director Chris Del Conte. TCU’s indoor practice facility was also a draw for Rice.

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According to Bailiff, the team will return to Houston once the university administration says it is safe to return. Meanwhile, it will resume its normal practice schedule at TCU despite the change of location. The Owls will have a day of rest Tuesday to recover from about 24 hours of travel before returning to weight training and stretching on Wednesday.

Volleyball

Rice volleyball opened its season by winning the Doubletree Invitational in Dallas. The Owls went 2-1 with wins over SMU and Mississippi State University and a loss to Texas A&M, Corpus Christi. Rice concluded the weekend with a loss to TCU on Sunday.

Because all of its matches occurred in the Dallas area, the volleyball team could not return to Houston. Instead, the Owls are staying at a hotel in Waco. The team had dinner with Baylor president Linda Livingstone, the mother of Rice junior hitter Shelby Livingstone, on Sunday night. The team is staying in Waco until further notice. Its next match is scheduled for Friday, Sept. 1 in Boulder, Colorado against Wake Forest University.

Soccer

The soccer team began the weekend with a tightly contested 0-0 tie against Baylor in Houston. The game was moved from Friday to Thursday to beat the storm. After the game, the athletic department announced Sunday’s scheduled match against the University of Houston would be canceled. Head coach Nicky Adams said she was not sure how the extra time off will affect her team.

“I’m not sure if it’s going to help or hurt,” Adams said. “With mother nature, it is what it is. It’s going to be day-by-day to see what we can do in terms of practicing, but at the end of the day safety is the most important thing for players and families.”

The Owls’ next game is scheduled for Friday, Sept. 1 in San Jose against San Jose State University. There is no word yet on how the weather may affect the team’s travel plans. 

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