Volleyball takes set from Texas in front of record-breaking crowd

By Andersen Pickard     9/9/25 11:08pm

Rice volleyball wasn’t able to pull off an upset against No. 2 University of Texas at Austin, but the program still made history by setting an attendance record Wednesday in Tudor Fieldhouse.

3,017 spectators filled the venue as Rice fell to Texas, 3-1. The crowd broke the existing attendance record of 3,012, which was set Sept. 18, 2019, also against Texas.

Head coach Genny Volpe said that it seems like every time volleyball draws a large crowd, they deliver strong results on the court. She also said that opposing coaches have told her it’s very difficult for their teams to focus when the student section gets loud. 

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Playing in front of Rice and Texas fans, the team found freedom and confidence to play their style of volleyball.

“You saw the light blue shirts mixing with the orange,” senior middle blocker Lademi Ogunlana said. “It just reminded us that we both have an equal shot of winning, we both deserve to be there and we were both on the same floor. It gave us a lot of freedom to go out and do what we wanted to do.”

Texas took an early 3-0 lead over Rice, but the Owls responded by pulling ahead with an 8-2 run and a 4-0 run. The two programs went back and forth, keeping a close score deep into the set. Senior outside hitter Taylor Preston ultimately delivered the final strike with a kill to win the set, 25-23. 

“We were wanting to be the aggressors in this game, and that’s what we did,” Preston said. “I’m just super happy with how that first set finished off. We were feeding off each other’s energy and it was so fun.”

Texas won each of its first six sets to open the season, but Rice snapped the Longhorns’ winning streak. 

“I was fired up because I think we surprised Texas a little bit, caught them off guard,” Volpe said. 

Despite winning the first set, the Owls recognized the strengths of Texas’ program and wanted to avoid complacency.

“We knew after the first set that it wasn’t just going to be easy from there,” Preston said. “They were definitely going to fight back, and that’s what they did.”

Texas proceeded to win the next three sets with scores of 14-25, 14-25 and 16-25, respectively. Still, the Owls left the court with positive takeaways and opportunities to improve moving forward. 

“I think we took a lot of good things away from this,” Preston said. “We really can only go up from here. Every practice, we keep getting better. Each game, we keep getting better.”

Volpe said the coaches gathered after the match and agreed that the team is taking significant strides forward.

Less than three days after playing against Texas, the Owls hit the road for a weekend tournament at Baylor University. They won their first match Saturday before falling to No. 20 Baylor.

The Owls will have three more matches on the road before returning home Sept. 18. Volpe hopes that students will continue to attend upcoming volleyball matches, as well as other Rice sporting events like football and basketball.

When asked how she would sell students on the idea of attending volleyball matches, Volpe cited the environment inside Tudor Fieldhouse, the competitiveness of her team and the excitement of Division I sports.

“Take a study break, come out and have a part of the college experience,” Volpe said. “We want to play our best for our school, and the more that the students come out, it just enhances the whole college experience.”

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