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Sports

SPORTS 11/19/22 10:02pm

Volleyball sweeps UTEP in semis to set up rematch with WKU in final

By Daniel Schrager

Like clockwork, death, taxes, and whatever other cliché you want to use to describe mind-bending consistency, No. 22 Rice volleyball will face No. 20 Western Kentucky University in the Conference USA final yet again. The Owls secured a finals spot against the top-seeded Hilltoppers for the fourth consecutive year with a sweep of the University of Texas at El Paso in Saturday’s semifinal. According to head coach Genny Volpe, the Owls executed their game plan almost perfectly to punch their ticket to the final.

SPORTS 11/19/22 11:44am

Volleyball sweeps FIU in first round of C-USAs, advances to semifinals

By Cadan Hanson

Rice volleyball took care of business in the first round of the Conference USA tournament, sweeping the No.7 seed Florida International University (26-24, 25-22, 25-18).  With the win, the No. 2 seed Owls advanced to the semifinals where they will face University of Texas at El-Paso. After the win, head coach Genny Volpe was happy with the sweep and moving on to the semifinals.

SPORTS 11/15/22 11:15pm

Volleyball gets final chance to reverse the C-USA tournament curse

By Cadan Hanson

Even though they’ve won 48 of their last 50 conference regular season games, the Rice volleyball team has not won a Conference USA tournament since 2018. After three straight years as the conference’s runners-up, the Owls will finally look to reverse their fortunes in what will be their final postseason in C-USA. This year, the No. 22 Owls enter the tournament with an almost perfect conference record of 13-1, and 23-3 overall. According to head coach Genny Volpe, the team is excited to jump into postseason volleyball.

SPORTS 11/15/22 10:49pm

Volleyball misses out on C-USA regular season title to WKU by inches

By Daniel Schrager

Whenever the Rice volleyball team plays Western Kentucky University, the two head coaches have a running joke. “[WKU head coach] Travis [Hudson] and I always joke, ‘let’s get ready for a five set match,’ because we know it’s going five,” Owls’ head coach Genny Volpe said. Thursday’s game between the two Conference USA heavyweights was no exception. It took the Hilltoppers five sets and a tie-break to claim the conference regular season title over the Owls in the closest you’ll get to an instant classic in small-conference volleyball.

SPORTS 11/15/22 10:46pm

Injuries and INTs: Football crushed by WKU in turnover-fest

By Pavithr Goli

The Rice football team lost to Western Kentucky University 45-10 on Saturday afternoon, dropping them to 5-5 on the season and 3-3 in conference play. The Owls struggled on both sides of the ball, with the offense recording six turnovers and the defense allowing 495 yards. According to head coach Mike Bloomgren, the team just didn’t play very well.

SPORTS 11/15/22 10:42pm

Cross country season ends quietly for both teams at regionals

By Landry Wood

Rice’s Cross Country season ended at the South Central Regional Meet on Nov. 11. The women’s team, coming off a third place finish in the Conference USA Championship, crossed the line ninth this weekend, falling short of their second place finish and NCAA championship berth attained last fall. In a season plagued with injuries, the Owls were missing some of 2021’s most impressive runners, including last year’s regional champion junior Grace Forbes. This year, junior Taigen Hunter-Galvan led the Owls in nineteenth place with a six-kilometer time of 21:04.2, improving on her twenty-first place 21:25.5 run at 2021’s regionals. According to Hunter-Galvan, the team had their eyes set on nationals again before injuries got in the way.

SPORTS 11/9/22 12:26am

Meltdown in Malibu: MBB drops opener to Pepperdine

By Pavithr Goli

The Rice men’s basketball team fell to Pepperdine University with a final score of 106-67 on Monday night’s season opener. Starting their season with a loss in Malibu, the Owls main contributor on offense was junior guard Quincy Olivari, who led the team in scoring with 15 points, and assists with six. The Owls struggled to score throughout the game, shooting 38% from the field while the Waves made 63% of their shots and converted 50% of their three-pointers.

SPORTS 11/9/22 12:23am

FB bests UTEP in shootout, needs one win for bowl

By Ben Baker-Katz

Rice football beat the University of Texas at El Paso 37-30 on Thursday thanks to a last second touchdown pass from junior quarterback TJ McMahon to senior wide receiver Bradley Rozner. The win improved the Owls to 5-4 on the season, one win away from securing a postseason berth with three games remaining in the season. According to head coach Mike Bloomgren, this win was crucial for the team, especially on a short turnaround after their disappointing loss to the University of North Carolina at Charlotte.

SPORTS 11/9/22 12:19am

Spitz’s school record highlights Swimming’s Senior Day

By Cadan Hanson

The Rice swim team had a lot to celebrate on Senior Day as they waved goodbye to the Tulane University Green Wave after Friday’s dual meet. In route to their 87 point victory (144-57), the first Rice victory in the American Athletic Conference as the swim team moved a year earlier than other sports, the Owls claimed gold in all 11 events and senior backstroker Zoe Spitz was able to put a bow on top of the day with a new school record. After the meet, head coach Seth Huston said he was pleased with the performance.

SPORTS 11/9/22 12:18am

Top-seeded soccer stunned in first round of C-USA tourney

By Diego Palos Rodriguez

After an undefeated Conference USA regular season, the top-seeded Owls came into the first round of the conference tournament against the eighth-seeded University of North Carolina at Charlotte as the heavy favorites. But history repeated itself in this David and Goliath match that saw the top-ranked Owls lose to the eighth seed in the first round for the second time in school history, the first also being against the 49ers in 2017. According to freshman defender Carsyn Martz, who returned from injury for the match, Charlotte’s persistence made the difference in the game. 

SPORTS 11/9/22 12:12am

Volleyball heads to No. 22 Western Kentucky for rivalry’s potential final chapter

By Daniel Schrager

The last time Rice volleyball lost a conference regular season game, back in 2019, it took Western Kentucky University two match points to knock off the Owls in a five-set battle that ultimately decided the regular season conference title. The two teams would meet again that year, this time in the conference championship game, but the result was the same: a five-set Hilltopper victory. Only three players from that Owls team are still with the program, but according to fifth-year setter Carly Graham, the losses still haven’t faded from memory.

SPORTS 11/2/22 12:48am

This is a new low for Rice football

By Ben Baker-Katz and Daniel Schrager

ESPN’s Ryan McGee publishes a list of the ten worst teams in college football’s primary division. Rice has graduated from the rotation of teams regularly featured in his column, but their opponent last week, the then 1-7 University of North Carolina at Charlotte, hasn’t – they were the last ranked team in his most recent list.

SPORTS 11/2/22 12:46am

Volleyball’s defensive ace McCardell talks family, return from injury

By Reed Myers

When you look at the volleyball court, it’s hard to miss junior libero Nia McCardell, who sports a different colored jersey than her teammates. But it’s not just the color of her jersey that’s made McCardell stand out this season. McCardell has stepped into the spotlight for the Owls this season, earning four Conference USA Defensive Player of the Week awards this year alone.

SPORTS 11/2/22 12:45am

Nightmare on South Main: Football blown out by last-place Charlotte on Homecoming

By Cadan Hanson

In the true spirit of Halloween, Rice Stadium resembled a haunted house with proverbial carnage all over the field following Saturday’s loss. Going into the game as 15 point favorites against the last-place team in Conference USA, who had fired their head coach six days prior, all indications pointed to the Owls celebrating Homecoming with a resounding win. But not only did the University of North Carolina at Charlotte spoil the Homecoming festivities, they did so with a 33 point victory, defeating the Owls 56-23. Head coach Mike Bloomgren was very disappointed with the loss after the game.

SPORTS 11/2/22 12:43am

“It’s time to elevate it one more step”: MBB eyes C-USA’s top half

By Daniel Schrager

Last year, Rice’s men’s basketball team saw their season slip through their hands as their injuries began to pile up. The team ended the season 16-17 with a second round exit in the Conference USA tournament. They return much of their entire team from last season, but will need to replace leading scorer Carl Pierre and starting guard Chris Mullins. According to Olivari, they’ve finally added the kind of depth that will allow them to give other teams a variety of looks.

SPORTS 11/2/22 12:40am

Women’s XC takes 3rd, men’s takes 4th at C-USAs

By Pavithr Goli

Both the Rice men’s and women’s cross country teams competed at the Conference-USA Championships race this past weekend. The women’s team placed third overall in a six-kilometer race, and the men’s team placed fourth in their eight-kilometer race.

SPORTS 11/2/22 12:39am

Soccer rights the ship just in time for postseason

By Diego Palos Rodriguez

A little less than two months ago, the Rice soccer team was in troubled waters. As the final whistle blew on their last game before conference play, sealing a 5-0 loss to reigning national champion Florida State University, the Owls had a 2-6 record. From the outside looking in, it seemed as if the Owls were destined for a disappointing season. But since then, the Owls have swept all of their Conference USA opponents, aside from one non-conference tie, and set themselves up for what is bound to be an exciting conference tournament. According to head coach Brian Lee, their early results came from a lack of familiarity between new and experienced players.

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