Rice Volleyball won its first NCAA Tournament match in school history in 2019. How will the Owls’ measure future success in light of that achievement?

How do you improve on the best season you’ve ever had? That’s the question hanging over Rice Volleyball this offseason. The Owls will lose several key pieces and ask new ones to help carry the load. The objective will always be to win, but the standard has been set higher than it’s ever been before.

Coach Genny Volpe has made the program’s expectations crystal clear.

“Getting to the NCAA Tournament is our expectation, and its been our expectation to continue to elevate and advance in the tournament, but for me, and more importantly, are we maximizing our potential? Are we improving when we get on the court daily? Because then all of those things fall into place.

In the midst of a world that focuses all too often on the end result, Volpe remains committed to the journey. Rather than use terms like optimist or realist, Volpe calls herself “a real process-oriented type of person.”

That mindset is apropos to the culture of Rice Athletics and it makes a lot of sense. It takes so many things to go right to reach the pinnacle of any endeavor. There can only be one national champion every year. Reaching that apex takes effort and focus, but it also takes a little bit of luck.

Volpe knows that she can train consistency and focus. If she does that, the Owls will be set up to capitalize on any breaks that do come her way. And they’ll be better prepared to navigate the obstacles that will inevitably appear as well.

Seasons are measured in wins and losses, but that’s not the metric Volpe deems most vital. “Are we maximizing our potential?” is the question that runs through her head over and over again.

Potential is much more difficult to quantify. It can’t be measured by a number, rather calculated through less tangible facets: culture, chemistry, buy-in and others.

Seamlessly integrating newcomers into a program that has already found a productive rhythm is a challenge, but one that will prove vital toward the Owls’ success on the court next fall. Volpe’s messaging is consistent in that arena as well. “Find what your role is, no matter how big or how small, and embrace it for the good of the team.” Compiling those roles into offensive and defensive strategies is the starting point for what Rice hopes will be another year of record-setting success.

“It’s going to take work. There’s no question we lost a lot of pieces to that puzzle,” Volpe said. But there was no hesitation in her voice. The talent to win exists on the roster. Her job is to assemble the pieces, something she’s excelled at in her decade-plus tenure at Rice.

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Rice volleyball will retool their roster as they enter the 2020 season, supplementing a talented returning roster with key additions and elevating some players into bigger roles.

The standard is high at South Main. That’s to be expected on the heels of three consecutive NCAA Tournament appearances. Getting to the tournament is one thing, returning year after year is another. That’s the next net Rice volleyball hopes to leap.

To stretch their streak to a fourth consecutive NCAA spot, the Owls are going to have to reload on the fly. The roster had a healthy mix of younger and more veteran players, but several of those key building blocks will be out of eligibility after this year. Rice must replace those seniors effectively to maintain their current trajectory.

Thankfully the Owls aren’t starting from scratch. Head coach Genny Volpe has been keeping tabs on the up-and-coming talent during the season and into the spring. Among those weren’t part of the usual starting contingent, Ellie Bichelmeyer and Carly Graham each drew specific praise from Volpe.

Bichelmeyer’s development was evident throughout the season and carried over into spring practices. “I see her really growing in confidence,” Volpe said, “She showed significant growth… even from the beginning of the season to the end of the season.”

Even coming off the bench, Bichelmeyer made her mark. She had 188 points last year, fourth most on the team. Her 1.89 kills per set trailed only Nicole Lennon and Anota Adekunle, both of which were named to the Conference USA First Team last season.

Carly Graham also caught Volpe’s eye. She and senior Adria Martinez ran the offense together last season. With Martinez departing, Graham was left as the only setter in the gym this spring. “To see her really step up as a leader and run the show all by herself has been really exciting. I see big things for her ahead,” Volpe said.

And that doesn’t account for an exciting new wave of talent that hasn’t yet arrived on campus. The 2020 Rice Volleyball signing class is filled with players who have won at every level of competition in which they’ve participated. “They don’t really know how to lose,” Volpe remarked. She hopes to keep that winning tradition alive when the freshman get their feet wet this fall. Rice has done a lot of winning in recent years and they’ve no intention to stop now.

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It’s hard to accomplish all Rice Volleyball did in 2019 without a core group of experienced players. The Owls will have to replace several key seniors.

Rice volleyball had a delicate mix of experienced veterans and up-and-coming underclassmen on their 2019 team. They’re fortunate to only have to replace a few key pieces on a team poised to reload and seek another NCAA berth.

The outgoing seniors, although few in number, played huge roles in the Owls’ success on the court. Head coach Genny Volpe admitted it won’t be a seamless transition. “It’s hard [to replace those seniors],” quickly transitioning to those waiting in the wings. “We’ve got some really talented players coming in and we have some players that are currently on the team that maybe had smaller roles that are looking to fulfill bigger roles.”

Volpe and her staff had started to identify those players this spring before the coronavirus shutdown put an indefinite pause on their spring activities. There will be plenty of time to look forward to that future. Now is the time for an assessment of just what those reinforcements will be supplanting.

The most notable departing senior is setter Adria Martinez. She had more than half of the Owls’ assists on the season, sharing the setting duties with sophomore Carly Graham. Martinez was one of three players to never miss a set all season. The other two, senior Lee Ann Cunningham and graduate Tabitha Brown, have also played their final games at Rice.

Cunningham served as the team’s libero, leading the team in digs. Brown was an impactful outside hitter. That trio of Martinez, Cunningham and Brown combined for 1068 digs over the course of the season. Fortunately seven-time Conference USA Player of the Week Nicole Lennon will return in 2020, but that’s still plenty of defensive turnover.

Outside hitters Grace Morgan and Tori Woogk round out the outgoing collection of Owls. Both were contributors on the attack, racking up 193 and 116 kills respectively. Morgan’s 265 points were third-most on the team.

Those seniors played crucial roles in pushing Rice volleyball to its historic season, but they didn’t get the Owls’ there on their own. Rice has plenty of talent on the roster. The new faces just need their moment in the spotlight. That will come soon enough.

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