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Daniel Schrager

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 11/16/21 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. 

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 11/2/21 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 11:33pm

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 10/21/21 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 10:46pm

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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