Rice University’s Student Newspaper — Since 1916
Thursday, December 08, 2022 — Houston, TX

Sports

SPORTS 1/25/22 10:56pm

From conference championships to coaching Olympians: Victor Lopez reflects on his track & field journey

By Cadan Hanson

Fifteen years after retiring as the women’s track and field coach at Rice, Victor Lopez heard his name called during the induction ceremony for the Texas Track & Field Hall of Fame. As one of the seven members in the 13th class of inductees, Lopez now stands among the likes of nine-time gold medalist Carl Lewis and other Texas track and field legends. Although it is the most recent accolade for the retired track and field coach, it is just the latest of numerous awards and accolades that he earned throughout his career.

SPORTS 1/18/22 11:46pm

Men’s basketball gets outmanned by WKU

By Chloe Singer

On Thursday, the Rice men’s basketball team faced off against the reigning Conference USA regular season champions, Western Kentucky University, in Bowling Green, Kentucky. Despite holding a halftime lead, Rice fell 80-66 for their seventh consecutive loss to Western Kentucky.  The loss brought their record to 9-6 on the season, and dropped their conference record to 2-2.

SPORTS 1/18/22 11:43pm

Men’s indoor track and field season starts to heat up

By Pavithr Goli

This past Friday, the Rice men’s track team opened up their indoor season at the Leonard Hilton Memorial Invitational at the University of Houston. As a small meet, only 10 athletes represented the Owls at the competition last weekend. Despite the small number of participants, four Owls reached the podium. According to head coach Jon Warren, the meet was a perfect way to kick off the season. 

SPORTS 1/18/22 11:41pm

Women’s club ultimate talks nationals, upcoming season

By Reed Myers

Following cancellations due to COVID-19 that altered women’s club ultimate frisbee’s 2020 and 2021 seasons, they finally got a chance to play out their previous seasons this past fall. According to Hanszen College senior Amanda Lopatin, one of the team’s two captains, their participation in regionals this October was the first chance to play together as a team again for quite some time. 

SPORTS 1/11/22 11:01pm

Swimming loses to UH, SMU in first meet of 2022

By Pavithr Goli

The Rice swimming team was defeated by both the University of Houston and Southern Methodist University in their first meet since early December. The Owls lost to UH in their dual meet by a score of 181-104. In addition, SMU defeated the Owls by a final score of 164-98. According to head coach Seth Huston, despite the losses, he was proud of his team’s performance this weekend. 

SPORTS 1/11/22 11:00pm

Men’s basketball upsets UAB, goes 2-0 on weekend

By Cadan Hanson

The Rice men’s basketball team played their first two home games of the conference season over the weekend, leaving with two wins. On Thursday, the Owls defeated Middle Tennessee State University in a tight game, by a score of 65-61. Then, on Saturday, the Owls completed a comeback win against then-Conference USA West Division leader University of Alabama at Birmingham.  

SPORTS 1/11/22 10:59pm

Women’s hoops drops conference opener to MTSU

By Reed Myers

The Rice women’s basketball team made their long awaited return to play Friday afternoon when they opened their conference season on the road at Middle Tennessee State University. Friday’s contest marked the end of a 23-day gameless stretch which featured cancellations, postponements, and an extended Christmas break for the Owls. 

SPORTS 1/11/22 10:55pm

Two weeks of cancellations and postponements: COVID-19 surge hits Rice basketball

By Daniel Schrager

The recent surge of COVID-19 cases is bringing record numbers of infections across the country, and both Rice basketball programs are feeling its effects. During a stretch from mid-December to early January, the women’s team had three consecutive games either postponed or canceled due to COVID-19 cases within the program. Meanwhile, the men’s team saw two of its games get postponed over the same time period. According to women’s head coach Lindsay Edmonds, dealing with the surge in cases while preparing for conference play has been challenging for her team.

SPORTS 12/8/21 2:04pm

Volleyball falls to No. 2 Texas in round of 32

By Daniel Schrager

Rice volleyball’s season came to a close on Friday night as they failed to knock off No. 2 University of Texas, Austin in the second round of the NCAA tournament. The Owls fell by a score of three sets to none, despite keeping the first two sets close. After the match, head coach Genny Volpe said that the Owls played well enough to beat almost any team in the country, but the Longhorns proved to be too strong.

SPORTS 12/2/21 9:37pm

Volleyball sweeps San Diego in NCAA tourney, set for rematch with Texas

By Daniel Schrager

Rice volleyball will get another shot at No. 2 University of Texas, Austin after they swept the University of San Diego on Thursday in the first round of the NCAA tournament. The Owls took all three sets against the Toreros by at least five points, en route to the second victory in an NCAA tournament game in program history. After the game, head coach Genny Volpe said she was confident from the get-go. 

SPORTS 11/30/21 11:52pm

Does this count as progress? Football needs a more consistent formula

By Daniel Schrager

Most of the way through the 2019 season, I thought that Rice had some of the worst luck in all of college football. Through nine games, the Owls were winless, despite four one-score losses, including an eight-point loss to a Baylor University team that ended the season ranked in the top 15. All signs indicated that the Owls were much better than their 0-9 record and that their bad luck in close games was long overdue to flip. The Owls ended that season with a three-game winning streak, including two one-possession wins, appeared to confirm that theory.

SPORTS 11/30/21 11:52pm

Recap: Football ends season with comeback win over LA Tech

By Cadan Hanson

On Saturday, Rice football came back from a ten point deficit in the fourth quarter to defeat Louisiana Tech University 35-31 on Senior Day. The come-from-behind win snapped a four-game losing streak and tallied the Owls fourth win of the season, moving their record to 4-8 and 3-5 in Conference-USA.

SPORTS 11/30/21 11:50pm

Men Basketball goes 1-2, plays 3OT game in Gulf Coast Showcase

By Pavithr Goli

As many undergraduate students went home for Thanksgiving break, the Rice men’s basketball team spent their break participating in the Gulf Coast Showcase in Estero, FL where they won their first game but dropped the last two. In the first game last Monday, the Owls beat the University of Evansville 109-104 in three overtimes. However, following the win, the Owls did not have positive results for the remainder of the showcase as they lost to Oakland University 76-73 on Tuesday and were defeated by Fordham University 84-74 on Wednesday. After their Thanksgiving-week competition, the Owls are now 4-3 on the season. 

SPORTS 11/30/21 11:49pm

Volleyball heads to fourth consecutive NCAA tournament

By Ben Baker-Katz

Rice volleyball will face the University of San Diego tomorrow in the first round of the women’s volleyball NCAA tournament. This is the fourth consecutive season in which the Owls will be selected, after they received an at-large bid on Sunday night. Rice returns to the tournament after being forced to exit prior to their first match last year due to COVID-19 protocols. 

SPORTS 11/22/21 5:51pm

Women’s cross country stumbles at NCAAs

By Pavithr Goli

The Rice women’s cross country team fell short against the stiff competition of the NCAA Cross Country Championships Saturday morning. Racing at the Apalachee Regional Park in Tallahassee, FL, the Owls placed last out of 31 teams, in the program’s seventh overall appearance in the cross country championships. 

SPORTS 11/20/21 6:40pm

Volleyball advances to C-USA final

By Daniel Schrager

Rice volleyball took down Middle Tennessee State University on Saturday in straight sets to advance to their fourth straight Conference USA championship game, where they will face No. 18 Western Kentucky University. After the win, head coach Genny Volpe said that the team is playing some of their best volleyball right now as they look to clinch a spot in next month’s NCAA tournament.

SPORTS 11/17/21 12:14am

Volleyball looks to reach Conference USA hilltop

By Pavithr Goli

After going 17-5 during the regular season, and undefeated in conference play, Rice volleyball enters the Conference USA tournament on Friday as the No. 1 seed in the C-USA West on a 12-game win streak. On Friday, the Owls look to build upon their momentum in the first round, when they play the University of North Carolina, Charlotte. 

SPORTS 11/16/21 11:43pm

Forbes wins regionals, Women’s XC qualifies for NCAAs

By Daniel Schrager

Sophomore distance runner Grace Forbes followed up her conference title with a first-place finish at the NCAA South-Central Cross Country Regional on Friday in Waco, TX, helping the Rice women’s team to a second place finish. The result earned them a spot in this Saturday’s NCAA championships for just the seventh time in program history. 

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