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Rice Athletics: Top 10 Moments from 2025

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2025 was filled with highs and lows for Rice Athletics. The Roost picked out 10 moments that stood out the most along the way.

10. Rice Football defeats Louisiana in Scott Abell’s debut

On the road as double-digit underdogs against a team that played for a conference championship the season prior, Abell’s track record of overcoming tall odds got off to a tremendous start. The new-look offense did just enough as the defense slammed the door to secure a program-defining debut win in a season in which every victory mattered.

9. Rice Women’s Basketball upsets 1-Seed UTSA in Conference Tournament

These Owls were made for March, it seems. Following a disappointing regular season in which the program had to settle for the No. 9 Seed, Rice knocked off top-seeded UTSA in the quarterfinals on their way to a second consecutive championship game appearance.

8. Rice Soccer finishes runner-up in American Conference Tournament

Sticking with the theme of postseason runs, Rice soccer nearly capped off a strong 10-4-6 season with an NCAA Tournament berth, but fell just short in the championship game, dropping a 1-0 decision to Rice. Still, a penalty kick win over South Florida in the semifinals proved thrilling.

7. Rice Baseball hires David Pierce midseason

In an unprecedented move, Rice fired head coach Jose Cruz Jr. and hired David Pierce, all in the matter of a few weeks. Pierce got right to work, starting midseason and guiding the Owls to a .500 finish over his last 20 games of the season — Rice had a .190 winning percentage before he arrived.

6. Rice Football beats UConn in 20T

The theory entering the year was that the uniqueness of the gun option system would give Rice football an element of surprise at least once, leading to an upset of a team oddsmakers projected to be much better than the Owls on paper. It turns out that came against a surprising nine-win UConn team. Rice rallied from a modest halftime deficit to stun the Huskies with a walk-off touchdown by Quinton Jackson in double overtime.

5. Rice Men’s Tennis takes home two titles

The men’s tennis program hit an upswing this year, securing multiple titles along the way. The team won the American Conference Championship as a team, defeating host (and No. 2 Seed) Memphis. They also took the doubles crown with the tandem of Petro Kuzmenok and Santiago Navarro defeating No. 2 Seed Charlotte’s top pair in the title match.

4. Rice Swimming and Diving Conf. Champ.

A year ago, Rice added diving to its portfolio of NCAA sponsored sports. The thinking at the time was that the Owls could be title contenders if they played with the full allotment of resources permitted. Fast-forward to 2025 and Rice did indeed win it all, clinching a conference championship in Swimming and Diving for the first time since 2013-2014.

3. Rice Volleyball wins 17 in a row enroute to NCAA Tournament

It took a few weeks to get going as the Owls battled it out with a vigorous non-conference schedule, but once conference play arrived, Rice volleyball was hard to beat. The Owls won 17 consecutive matches, clinching an American Conference Tournament Championship and earning a spot in the NCAA Tournament where they would eventually lose to Florida.

2. Rice Football goes bowling

As recently as 24 hours before selection day, the odds of Rice football going bowling seemed slim. Then Kansas State opted out that Sunday morning and Rice football was Armed Forces Bowl bound. Abell made it clear he doesn’t want to get in on APR again, but he’s happy for the extra opportunity for his program and the Owls are heading to Fort Worth with the intention of bringing home a trophy.

1. Gateway Project announced

The announcement of The Gateway Project, a transformative commitment by Rice University to its football program and its athletic institutions made waves on a national scale. The project, scheduled to be completed prior to the 2028 season, will see Rice Stadium fully renovated and a new gateway to Rice Village installed.

Honorable Mentions…

How about you? Which of these moments from Rice Athletics did you enjoy the most? Cutting this down to 10 was challenging. Which Rice Athletics events should be added to the list?

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Rice Volleyball Earns 7-Seed opens vs Florida in NCAA Tournament

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Officially NCAA Tournament bound, Rice women’s volleyball heard their name called in the NCAA Volleyball selection show on Sunday night.

Rice Volleyball (21-9) continues its impressive season with a spot in the NCAA Tournament. The Owls earned a No. 7 Seed on Selection Sunday. They will head to Dallas, Texas to play Florida on Friday, Dec. 5 at 4:00 p.m. CT. Should they win, they’d play the winner of a matchup between 2-Seed SMU and Central Arkansas on Saturday.

American Conference regular season Champions, Rice won 17 consecutive games before falling to Tulsa in the American Conference Tournament Championship. Taylor Preston and Arissa Smith were named to the American All-Tournament team in recognition of their stellar performances.

This will be the Owls’ ninth NCAA Tournament appearance under head coach Genny Volpe and their first since 2022.

The Owls’ regional looks like this:

Should Rice volleyball advance out of Dallas, they’d face the winner of the quartet including 3-Seed Purdue, Wright State, 6-Seed Baylor and Arkansas State. First things first, Rice will focus their attention on Florida.

This story will be updated as more information becomes available.

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Rice Athletics: Top 10 Moments from 2024

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2024 was filled with highs and lows for Rice Athletics. The Roost picked out 10 moments that stood out the most along the way.

10. Rice basketball defeats Memphis

It was a season of mixed results, but the high points were worth savoring for Rice basketball this year. Head coach Scott Pera’s team earned perhaps their most memorable win of his tenure on January 31, upsetting Memphis on the road.

9. Rice Football defeats Navy under interim coach Pete Alamar

Days removed from the dismissal of head coach Mike Bloomgren and following the second-longest rain delay in college football history, Rice football stunned the AAC by knocking off Navy, which had previously been undefeated in league play.

8. Soccer posts dominant home season

Rice soccer bounced back from a down season in 2023 in tremendous fashion, nearly completely an undefeated season at home before falling on Senior Day 1-0 to Charlotte. Nevertheless, a dominant 10-1-1 record at home was impressive after the squad went winless at Holloway Field the year prior.

7. Lots of new beginnings

This year, Rice introduced new coaches (Rob Lanier – basketball, Scott Abell – football) and new sports. The women’s diving team returned for the first time since 1991 and the Owls announced the coming addition of the women’s golf team which will debut in 2026.

6. Parker Smith drafted by hometown Houston Astros

A Houston native and multi-year Friday night ace for Rice Baseball, Parker Smith was a fourth round selection of the Houston Astros in July, the highest an Owl has been drafted since Trei Cruz went in the third round in 2020.

5. A two-fer of Tennis successes

Divna Ratkovic won the AAC women’s individual championship right at home, clinching the victory on campus at the George R. Brown Tennis Center. The men’s team didn’t take home the AAC crown, but they did clinch their first trip since 2017 to the NCAA Championship as a team.

4. Genny Volpe posts 400th career win

If it feels like Volpe has been leading Rice Volleyball to successful seasons year after year for quite some time, that’s because she has. Volpe earned career win number 400 this season when the team beat Tulane in their AAC opener. All 400 of those wins have come at Rice.

3. Two podiums for Women’s Track and Field at NCAA Championships

Tara Simpson-Sullivan took home second and Mckyla Van der Westhuizen placed third in their respective events, hammer throw and javelin, at the 2024 NCAA D1 Outdoor Championships. Simpson-Sullivan broke her own school record and AAC record in the process while Van der Westhuizen delivered a personal best to reach the podium.

2. Luke McCaffrey drafted 100th overall

With the final pick of the third round, the Washington Commanders selected Rice football wide receiver Luke McCaffrey. McCaffrey became first Rice player drafted since Christian Covington in 2015 and the highest Owl drafted since Phillip Gains went in the third round to the Chiefs in 2014.

1. Rice women’s basketball wins AAC, makes NCAA Tournament

Following a tough stretch in February, 10-Seed Rice Women’s Basketball caught fire in March, running through the AAC Tournament on their way to the programs first ever AAC Tournament Championship. That earned them a trip to the NCAA Tournament, where they gave 3-Seed LSU all they could handle before falling on the road.

Honorable Mentions…

How about you? Which of these moments from Rice Athletics did you enjoy the most? Cutting this down to 10 was challenging. Which Rice Athletics events should be added to the list?

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Rice Soccer, Basketball and more bring good news: September 2024 Q&A

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The 2024 Rice Football season has taken a turn for the worse, but Rice Soccer, basketball and more offer hope for the future. We look at both in this month’s subscriber Q&A.

Understandably, good news was the order of the day after things went south with Rice Football. Fortunately, it’s been a very active fall sports season with highlights from Rice Soccer’s tremendous start to accolades for Genny Volpe and expectations for sports yet to start like Swimming and Basketball. This update focuses on the good news from those sports. We’ll dig into the football woes elsewhere.

Questions were edited briefly for clarity. Want to get your questions answered? Subscribe on Patreon for our monthly mailbag.

For those checking in for the first time, or those returning, a quick programming note. Special features like this are reserved for our subscribers. Have questions? You can get those answered in our monthly Q&As and get access to all practice notes, recruiting updates and features like this one when you subscribe on Patreon today.

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Rice Athletics: Top 10 Moments from 2023

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2023 was filled with highs and lows for Rice Athletics. The Roost picked out 10 moments that stood out the most along the way.

10. Rice women’s basketball beats BYU in WNIT

Getting back to the postseason was something near the top of the priority list for head coach Lindsay Edmonds and Rice women’s basketball. Not only did the Owls achieve that, qualifying for the NIT, but they were able to go on the road and get a win over a very good BYU team.

9. Forbes named Top 30 NCAA Women of the Year Award

Forbes was on pace to be one of the most decorated women’s track athletes ever to run for Rice before sickness abruptly ended her collegiate career. An excellent student an ambassador for the university, seeing Forbes continue to receive honors well after her athletic career had come to an end was extraordinary and much deserved.

8. Rice football inks another historic signing class

For the fourth time in the past five years Rice football head coach Mike Blomgren signed the No. 1 recruiting class in program history. Despite only adding 13 players in this cycle, the Owls made sure their limited scholarship slots were well utilized, bringing in a Texas-centric crop of high school athletes with five impactful transfers.

7. Field Athlete of the Year, times two

One of the final Conference USA honors before Rice made the move to the AAC, the Owls claimed not one, but two Field Athlete of the Year awards. Alexander Slinkman took home the men’s honor for his prowess in the pole vault. Tara Simpson-Sullivan took care of the women’s side of things, dominating the weight and hammer throw events.

6. Rice baseball has three players drafted

Justin Long (7th Round), Hayden Durke (13th) and Matthew Linskey (16th) heard their names called in the 2023 MLB Draft. While the Owls work to return to their winning history at Reckling Park, it’s encouraging to see the pro pipeline continue to produce results.

5. Rice basketball upsets North Texas in Denton

North Texas and Grant McCasland had been the standard in Conference USA for years and Rice basketball hadn’t faired well against the Mean Green, losing 10 of the last 11 by an average of 25 points. To win, and to win by double-digits on the road, was one of the most significant victories of head coach Scott Pera’s tenure.

4. Rice Volleyball beats USC

There have been a lot of high points for Rice volleyball under head coach Genny Volpe, but few individual matches were as impressive as a win over No. 22 USC in straight sets. It was the first sweep of ranked team for Rice since 2009 and the fans in Tudor Fieldhouse had the arena rocking the whole way.

2. Rice football goes bowling once again

Although the results of the SERVPRO First Responders Bowl left much to be desired, reaching back-to-back bowl games is a feat that has only happened on two other occasions in program history. The next step will be finding a way to win and seeing if the Owls can improve their win total once again — but those are questions for 2024.

2. Tommy McClelland named Athletic Director

Following the departure of Joe Karlgaard for the private sector, Rice president Reginald Desroches named Tommy McClelland the Owls’ newest Athletic Director. McClelland has already bolstered the athletic staff and discussed potential renovation projections at Rice Stadium. Having someone with his track record to guide Rice into the AAC will be crucial for all the Owls’ programs.

1. Rice football upsets Houston, wins Bayou Bucket

For the first time since 2010, Rice football won the Bayou Bucket, defeating rival Houston in overtime. The win would eventually become crucial for the Owls’ bowl eligibility hopes and serve as the only Power 5 win by any American Conference team in the regular season. This singular victory will go down as one of the most impactful wins for Rice football in quite some time.

Honorable Mentions…

How about you? Which of these moments from Rice Athletics did you enjoy the most? Cutting this down to 10 was challenging. Which Rice Athletics events should be added to the list?



Subscribe on Patreon for exclusive Rice football recruiting updates, practice notes and more.

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