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Sports

SPORTS 11/16/21 11:42pm

Rice’s athlete-students

By Shiyu Miao

Varsity athletes aren’t the only Rice students who compete in sports at high levels. The Thresher talked to three students who participate in national competitions in sports that Rice doesn’t offer, on how they started their sport, their training and what their sport means to them.

SPORTS 11/16/21 11:41pm

Edmonds starts with split

By Reed Myers

Rice women’s basketball kicked off their season under first-year head coach Lindsay Edmonds last Tuesday night with a win against St. Edward’s University, before dropping their second game of the season to University of Louisiana, Lafayette on Saturday. These were the first games in charge of the Owls for Edmonds, who spent her last eight seasons as an assistant at North Carolina State University. 

SPORTS 11/16/21 11:37pm

Men’s Basketball falls in bayou battle

By Cadan Hanson

On Friday, Rice Men’s Basketball traveled down the road to the Fertitta Center to face off against No. 15 University of Houston. In the first battle between the Cougars and the Owls on the court since 2019, Houston emerged victorious 79-46, extending their winning streak against the Owls to seven.  

SPORTS 11/9/21 11:53pm

Soccer season of close games ends in penalty shootout

By Daniel Schrager

Rice soccer couldn’t survive their sixth straight overtime game last Wednesday morning, as they fell to Middle Tennessee State University in penalty kicks in the first round of the Conference USA tournament. The loss brought an end to a season that began with the Owls’ being nationally ranked entering the year for the first time in program history. According to head coach Brian Lee, while he is disappointed in the way the season ended, he always knew that last season would be a tough act to follow.

SPORTS 11/9/21 11:52pm

Volleyball caps undefeated conference season with sweep of UTSA

By Pavithr Goli

Ending their regular season on a strong note, Rice volleyball swept the University of Texas, San Antonio in their two-game series over the weekend at Tudor Fieldhouse. The Owls took all three sets in both matches against the Roadrunners, as Rice completed their second straight undefeated conference season and earned the No. 1 seed in the west division in the Conference USA tournament later this month. After closing their regular season with a 12 game win streak, head coach Genny Volpe said she was happy with the team’s improvement throughout the season. 

SPORTS 11/9/21 11:51pm

IM sports return from COVID-adjusted year

By Chloe Singer

Student participation in intramural sports remains strong despite the challenge of navigating the COVID-19 pandemic. Since the beginning of the pandemic, IMs have been forced to adjust due to health and safety protocols. According to Chris Watkins, the assistant director of competitive sports and coordinator of intramural sports, he and his team have had to get creative in order to provide students with an opportunity to compete. 

SPORTS 11/9/21 11:49pm

Owls explore sponsorships with new NIL policy

By Reed Myers

A few months ago, the NCAA announced a long-awaited rule change that allows collegiate athletes in all sports to benefit from their name, image and likeness (NIL), including through sponsorship deals. Since then, many Rice student-athletes have taken advantage of the new policy by garnering partnerships and sponsorships with local and national companies. 

SPORTS 11/2/21 11:36pm

New look women’s hoops is ready for new season

By Cadan Hanson

When the calendar turns over into November, it not only means that Thanksgiving is right around the corner , but that it’s time to start the college basketball season. With the opening night at Tudor Fieldhouse set for this Tuesday, the Rice women’s basketball team looks to follow up on their WNIT championship last season with another strong year, but will have to overcome an offseason of turnover first.

SPORTS 11/2/21 11:34pm

Men’s basketball to rely on experience this year

By Pavithr Goli

Following last year’s quarterfinal exit in the Conference USA tournament and their 15-13 record, men’s basketball head coach Scott Pera and his team hope to have a more successful season as they continue to build the program for the future. Pera will be entering his fifth season as the head coach of the Owls and had his first winning season leading the Owls last year. 

SPORTS 11/2/21 11:31pm

Lindsay Edmonds knows it’s all about the people

By Daniel Schrager

Long before she was offered the head coaching job at Rice, Lindsay Edmonds knew the one thing she would focus on if she ever got a chance to take over a program of her own. “I learned from both [former James Madison University head coach] Kenny Brooks and [North Carolina State University head coach] Wes Moore how to do things the right way in your program and with the right people,” Edmonds said. “It was a non-negotiable for both of them so I know that’s how I want to run my program — [making] sure that I’m getting the right people here. It’s not just about basketball players, it’s about getting well-rounded [people].”

SPORTS 10/26/21 11:37pm

Soccer beats MTSU in overtime on senior day

By Antoine Wiley

Junior midfielder Delaney Schultz sent Middle Tennessee State University home in the 102nd minute on Friday night as she headed in a corner kick in the match’s second overtime period, earning Rice a 2-1 win. The victory snaps a two game losing streak for the Owls and improves their record on the season to 10-5-1.

SPORTS 10/26/21 11:33pm

Make no mistake, joining the AAC is a great move

By Daniel Schrager

The American Athletic Conference, as baseball hall of famer Yogi Berra famously said about the future, ain’t what it used to be. With the University of Houston, University of Cincinnati and University of Central Florida all leaving for the Big 12, the AAC will lose arguably its three most valuable members before Rice plays a game in their new conference. Those three were all key to the AAC’s push to become the sixth major conference: UCF made a legitimate College Football Playoff push with back to back undefeated regular seasons in 2017 and 2018, Houston made the men’s Final Four last year and Cincinnati is currently ranked No. 2 in the country in football. To make matters worse, the University of Connecticut, easily the best women’s basketball program in the country, left the AAC in 2020. The conference that Rice will join in a few years will be a far cry from the AAC of recent years.

SPORTS 10/26/21 11:31pm

Football upsets defending CUSA champs in hectic finish

By Pavithr Goli

Rice football picked up a road win this past Saturday afternoon as they upset the University of Alabama, Birmingham 30-24. Predicted to lose heavily, the Owls entered their matchup against the defending conference champion Blazers as 23.5-point underdogs. The win on Saturday puts the Owls with a record of 3-4 on the season, including a 2-1 record in C-USA play. Head coach Mike Bloomgren said that he was proud of the team’s win over a Blazers team that has run C-USA in recent years. 

SPORTS 10/21/21 11:15am

Rice set to join American Athletic Conference

By Daniel Schrager

For just the third time in school history, Rice will be moving athletic conferences. Along with five other Conference USA schools, Rice accepted an invitation to join the American Athletic Conference, the AAC announced Thursday morning. Rice will remain in C-USA for now, as the move won’t take effect until a later time which is yet to be determined, although multiple Rice coaches indicated that 2023 could be a possible target date. According to Athletic Director Joe Karlgaard, in the AAC, Rice has found a conference that meets all of its criteria.

SPORTS 10/19/21 10:48pm

Nicole Lennon breaks kills record against LA Tech

By Antoine Wiley

Senior outside hitter Nicole Lennon made Rice history on Saturday, breaking the program’s all-time kills record as the Owls beat Louisiana Tech University in both matches of their two game series. With her 1970th kill, Lennon broke the record set almost two decades ago by Rice legend and former member of the Spain women’s national volleyball team Rebeca Paz. After the game, Lennon said that breaking the record let her see just how much of an impact she’s made on the program.

SPORTS 10/19/21 10:47pm

Roadrunners run all over the Owls in San Antonio

By Pavithr Goli

This past Saturday night, the Rice football team lost to the University of Texas, San Antonio by a final score of 45-0 in the Alamodome. After winning two straight games prior to their bye week, the Owls fell to 2-4 while the Roadrunners added to their undefeated season, sporting a 7-0 record. The most recent AP Top 25 Poll ranked UTSA as the 24th best team in college football after their win over the Owls on Saturday.

SPORTS 10/19/21 10:46pm

Rice needs to keep their players out of the transfer portal

By Ben Baker-Katz and Daniel Schrager

On Saturday, the University of Texas, San Antonio gashed the Rice defense to the tune of 45 points in three quarters. While the defense had already allowed 58 points to the University of Texas, Austin, and 44 points to the University of Houston, there was something particularly disconcerting about giving up 45 points to a conference opponent, although the offense throwing two interceptions returned for touchdowns certainly didn’t help. The game marked the culmination of a fall from grace for a defense that ranked No. 12 in the country last year, allowing 18.8 points per game. So far this season, the Owl’s defense is giving up 39.67 points per game, good for No. 126 in the country out of 130 teams. 

SPORTS 10/13/21 12:45am

Karlgaard embraces challenges of pandemic, NCAA changes

By Daniel Schrager

Athletic director Joe Karlgaard describes himself as someone who likes challenges. But even he has found the past year and a half to be difficult. While the pandemic was a challenge to all college sports programs, Karlgaard said that Rice was at a disadvantage because they took it upon themselves to maintain higher COVID-19 safety protocols than many of their competitors.

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