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Sports

SPORTS 9/21/22 12:23am

50 years later, Rice’s first Black student-athletes reflect on their impact

By Daniel Schrager

Stahlé Vincent came back to Rice over the weekend. But this time, he got a different reception than he did when he first set foot on campus over five decades ago. “[When I first got here] there was not an open-arm reception,” Vincient said. “There were people who never spoke [to me], people avoided me, I had professors who wouldn’t call my name at roll. There was an animus there that you could feel.”

SPORTS 9/21/22 12:20am

After 350 wins, Volpe still isn’t thinking about her legacy

By Landry Wood

During her 19-year tenure, Rice volleyball head coach Genny Volpe has led the Owls to seven NCAA tournaments, two conference championships, 14 winning seasons and, as of Aug. 26’s victory over the University of Houston, 350 wins. With the Owls back in the American Volleyball Coaches Association’s top 25 as of Monday, those numbers seem poised to keep improving. This is a flooring amount of success for a program that had never even been to the tournament until Volpe was hired, but she is far from willing to take sole credit. 

SPORTS 9/21/22 12:17am

Volleyball upsets No. 17 Creighton, jumps into top-25

By Cadan Hanson

On Sunday, a flock of birds rose victorious above Tudor fieldhouse and it wasn’t a band of blue jays. After five intense sets, the Owls team took down No. 17 Creighton University on a second match point, capping off a tournament which started off with a reverse sweep of Big 12 opponent Kansas State University. After missing out on the American Volleyball Coaches Association’s Top 25 last week by one spot, the defining weekend was enough to jump the Rice volleyball team to No. 23 on the rankings. 

SPORTS 9/21/22 12:14am

Owls put an end to longest winning streak in college football

By Pavithr Goli

The Rice football team broke the nation’s longest winning streak when they defeated the University of Louisiana at Lafayette 33-21 on Saturday night. The Ragin’ Cajuns had won 15 straight games, going back to last season, before their trip to Rice Stadium over the weekend. The victory against the Ragin’ Cajuns puts the Owls at 2-1 on the season as they head into their last week of non-conference play. Head coach Mike Bloomgren said that the upset win felt like a reward for the hard work that he and his team have put in.

SPORTS 9/13/22 11:40pm

Volleyball takes down undefeated Texas Tech, improves to 8-1

By Daniel Schrager

Up 13-12 in the fifth set against a then-undefeated Texas Tech University team, fifth-year senior middle blocker Anota Adekunle took the game into her own hands. First, the three time first-team all conference selection put an end to a long rally that saw Texas Tech threatening to tie with an emphatic kill to bring match point. Then, she rose above the net to stop a Tech attack in its tracks and seal the comeback win for the Owls. According to Adekunle, she knew that if she stayed at the net, she would find herself in the right place at the right time.

SPORTS 9/13/22 11:39pm

After off-court obstacles, volleyball’s Graham is set for success

By Reed Myers

Carly Graham, the Owls’ fifth year setter, is no stranger to the spotlight. She is a two-time C-USA Setter of the Year and was named to the U.S. Women’s Collegiate National Team last spring. With such an accomplished career, it’s hard to believe that just a few years ago, on the eve of her sophomore season, Graham was in the Intensive Care Unit in the Texas Medical Center receiving a life-altering diagnosis. 

SPORTS 9/13/22 11:37pm

Not because it’s hard: Football beats FCS’s McNeese on the anniversary of JFK speech

By Pavithr Goli

Rice football recorded their first win of the season last weekend when they defeated McNeese State University 52-10 in their home opener. The Owls are now 1-1 on the season, with Saturday’s win being a part of the festivities commemorating the 60th anniversary of John F. Kennedy’s speech at Rice Stadium. According to head coach Mike Bloomgren, the Owls played well against the Cowboys but are not close to their full potential. 

SPORTS 9/13/22 11:36pm

Soccer blown out by NCAA champs FSU to close non-conferences

By Diego Palos Rodriguez

The Rice soccer team ended non-conference play with a bang. That is, they were blown away by last season’s national champions, Florida State University, in a firm 5-0 loss in front of the home crowd. The game marked the end of the team’s non-conference matches, which saw them finish with a 2-6 record and a three game losing streak. Head coach Brian Lee, however, emphasized that their expectations have not changed from the beginning of the season.

SPORTS 9/10/22 12:29pm

Soccer to host defending champs Florida State on Sunday

By Pavithr Goli

The Rice soccer team will face a tough test this Sunday when they host the reigning national champions, No. 8 Florida State University. After starting their season 1-0-2, with the pair of draws coming against top-20 opponents, the Seminoles have won each of their last two games by a score of 5-0.

SPORTS 9/6/22 11:23pm

Soccer beats HBU, loses ‘Bayou Cup’ to UH

By Diego Palos Rodriguez

Airfare was kept to a minimum over the weekend, as the Rice soccer team played a pair of games against crosstown rivals. The Owls got their second win of the season last Thursday when they beat Houston Baptist University 1-0. On Sunday, the Owls fell to the University of Houston 3-1, in a match that should henceforth be referred to as the ‘Bayou Cup.’ According to head coach Brian Lee, the year is still young, and he’s enjoyed seeing newer players step up when they’ve been called on.

SPORTS 9/6/22 11:20pm

Volleyball loses five set back-and-forth battle with No. 18 Oregon

By Cadan Hanson

After receiving the 30th most votes in last week’s American Volleyball Coaches Association poll, the Rice volleyball team narrowly missed an opportunity to cement their top-25 status in a  nail biting loss to No.18 University of Oregon . After winning the first set, the Owls fought off an Oregon comeback to force a fifth set, where they lost 15-11. Following the loss, head coach Genny Volpe said that she was pleased with the performance against such a high caliber team.

SPORTS 9/6/22 11:16pm

Pick 66: Tipped passes, turnovers and tackling woes doom Owls in opener against No. 14 USC

By Daniel Schrager

At least they might be the answer to a trivia question someday. The Rice football team lost their opener to No. 14 University of Southern California on Saturday by a score of 66-14. But if new Trojans head coach Lincoln Riley leads the fallen powerhouse back to its former heights as is widely expected, maybe some lucky fan ten years from now will win a round of shots for the table by remembering that his first opponent was the Owls.

SPORTS 8/30/22 11:19pm

Volleyball wins three games in two days to open season

By Daniel Schrager

The Rice volleyball team didn’t let a double-header on Friday or an abysmal first set on Saturday phase them, as they started their season with three straight wins over the weekend at Louisiana State University’s Tiger Classic in Baton Rouge. The team opened the tournament with a pair of sweeps before fighting back for a 3-2 win over LSU to close out the weekend. According to head coach Genny Volpe, while their offense is still a work in progress, the team was strong in all other facets of the game.

SPORTS 8/30/22 11:17pm

Collins breaks assist record as soccer gets first win of the year

By Diego Palos Rodriguez

It took just 29 minutes for Grace Collins to make Rice history on Sunday night. The graduate transfer who joined the Owls from Texas Christian University dished out a whopping four first-half assists, before adding one more in the second half to set a conference record as the Owls beat the University of the Incarnate Word 5-2 for their first win of the season.

SPORTS 8/30/22 11:16pm

Super Bowl hero C. J. Anderson mentors Rice RBs

By Reed Myers

With three minutes and 13 seconds left in Super Bowl 50, the Denver Broncos lined up in the I-formation on the two yard-line up 16-10 against the Carolina Panthers. Peyton Manning took the snap and handed it off to running back C.J. Anderson, who ran through Carolina Panthers All-Pro linebacker Luke Kuechly and used a second effort to reach the end zone and put the game away. 

SPORTS 8/30/22 11:15pm

Green machine: Owls’ Wiley quarterback set to start again

By Cadan Hanson

After practice Aug. 23, Rice football announced that No. 5 would be their QB1 for the start of the 2022 season. Wiley Green, an Irving, Texas native, who will start the Owls’ opener for the third time in his career, said that he is grateful for another opportunity in the starting role.

SPORTS 8/30/22 11:10pm

Football heads into make-or-break season

By Pavithr Goli

The Rice football team won just four games last year, their most since 2016. Head coach Mike Bloomgren, who is entering his fifth season leading the Owls and has an 11-31 record since taking over, said he hopes his squad can finally take the next step that they’ve appeared poised to make for years. 

SPORTS 8/23/22 11:32pm

Soccer star Schultz aims to put exclamation point on Rice career

By Cadan Hanson

If you’ve followed Rice soccer over the last four years, there’s a good chance you’ve come across the name Delaney Schultz. Since first stepping foot on the Rice campus, the fifth-year senior midfielder has left her mark on the soccer program, earning all-Conference honors three times and helping lead the team to the Sweet 16 of the 2021 NCAA tournament. 

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