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Rice Volleyball: Owls drop NCAA heatbreaker to Baylor, 3-2

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Rice Volleyball rallied to force a fifth set, but saw their NCAA Tournament trip come to an end in Waco, TX, falling to Baylor 3-2 in the Second Round.

Another historic Rice volleyball season ends in a crushing NCAA defeat, this time at the hands of Baylor in the second round of the NCAA Tournament. It was the Owls’ third trip to the second round in program history and following a 3-1 victory over Colorado on Thursday, the first time in program history the Owls have won an NCAA match in back-to-back seasons.

Rice volleyball fought to the fifth and final set on Friday in Waco, TX, but was unable to add any other line items to that historic run. The Owls fell 3-2 (25-16, 22-25, 23-25, 25-14, 15-11).

In the games they won, Rice was dominant, but they weren’t able to mount a comeback in the final frame after falling behind 4-0 out of the gate.

Rice hit .289, edging Baylor who managed just .243. Anota Adekunle led all players with 22 kills, tying the record for kills in an NCAA Tournament match, also reached the day prior to Sahara Maruska against Colorado. Carly Graham led all players with 56 assists. Adekunle led all players with 22.5 points.

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Rice Volleyball heads to Waco, opens vs Colorado in NCAA Tournament

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

Rice Volleyball (26-3) ends its impressive regular season with a spot in the NCAA Tournament. The Owls will head to Waco Texas to play Colorado (20-10) on Thursday, Dec. 1 at 4:00 p.m. Should they win, they’d play the winner of a matchup between Baylor and Stephen F. Austin on Friday at 7:00 p.m.

The Conference USA Champions, Rice avenged its only regular season conference loss in the conference championship game, toppling Western Kentucky to secure the auto-bid to the dance. Rice had fallen to Western Kentucky just nine days prior on the Hilltoppers’ own court but came back in the match that mattered most to punch their ticket and snap WKU’s three-year run as tournament champs.

The Owls were in the running for a host opportunity in the lead-up to the announcement. Ultimately, they weren’t given the opportunity but won’t have to travel far for their fifth straight NCAA Tournament appearance under head coach Gena Volpe.

The complete bracket looks like this:

Should Rice volleyball advance out of Waco, they’d face the winner of the quartet including 1-Seed Louisville, Samford, Tennessee and 8-Seed Purdue. First things first, Rice will focus their attention on Colorado.

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Rice Athletics: Top 10 Moments from 2021

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2021 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 goes on C-USA Tournament run

For the first time since 2007, Rice basketball won multiple games in the Conference USA Tournament. The Owls beat Southern Miss and knocked off Marshall before falling to UAB. After sneaking into the tournament as the sixth seed in the West, Rice put their best foot forward when it counted the most, building momentum as the team heads into the 2021-2022 season.

9. Owls shine at Tokyo Olympics and Paralympics

The realm of collegiate athletics wasn’t the only area where Rice impressed. The Owls also faired well on one of the world’s greatest stages: the Olympics. Ariana Ince competed in the Tokyo Olympics in the javelin throw. Soon after, Ahalya Lettenberger took home a silver medal in the Paralympic Games.

8. Rice Women’s basketball wins WNIT

It feels like forever ago at this point, but Rice Women’s Basketball marched through the WNIT in March, thumping Ole Miss to win the program’s first-ever WNIT Championship. The roster has changed dramatically since then, but the accomplishments of Tina Langley, Nancy Mulkey and Co. will not be forgotten.

7. Rice Football signs another Top 5 recruiting class

Recruiting has been one of the brightest spots for Rice football under head coach Mike Bloomgren and the most recent 2022 recruiting class appears to be no exception. The Owls took home a Top 5 class in Conference USA and the No. 2 rated class in program history. Each of the last three classes currently ranks in the Top 5 highest-rated classes in school history. More recruiting notes here.

6. Grace Forbes wins C-USA Female Track, XC Athlete of the Year

While track and field might not draw the same spotlight as other collegiate sports, it’s hard not to be transfixed by the level of dominance Grace Forbes has displayed in her young Rice career. Forbes was named C-USA Female Track Athlete of the Year and C-USA Cross Country Athlete of the Year. From start to end, she was the best of the best.

5. Rice baseball hires Jose Cruz Jr. as next head coach

Rice elected to make a change at the top of the baseball program following the 2021 season and athletic director Joe Karlgaard made a splash with the hiring of former Rice great Jose Cruz Jr. Cruz has already made notable additions on the transfer front and increased the visibility of the program within the city and on social media. The 2022 season can’t come soon enough.

4. Rice Soccer upsets WVU in NCAA Tournament

Making the NCAA Tournament is an accomplishment. Winning a game is another. Rice soccer went beyond both bars in their spring season, knocking off 5-seed West Virginia in route to the first Sweet 16 appearance by a Conference USA school since 2011 and tying the program record for wins a season with 14.

3. Rice Volleyball makes NCAA Tournament, twice!

Rice arrived in Omaha in mid-April but had their first NCAA Tournament appearance of the year ended by COVID-19 cases within the program. Undeterred, they bounced back and earned another NCAA bid in their traditional fall season. Finally given the opportunity to compete, Rice beat San Diego in the first round before falling to Texas in the second round.

2. Rice football beats UAB

For the second consecutive season, Rice football won a game as a three-touchdown underdog on the road. In 2020, Marshall was the victim a dominant defensive performance by the Owls. This time around, UAB was caught in the crosshairs of what was indisputably the most complete performance by all phases in the 2021 season with team-favorite Wiley Green at the helm.

1. Rice Athletics accepts AAC invite

The giant of conference realignment awoke during the summer when Texas and Oklahoma announced moves to the SEC. That decision sent ripple effects across college athletics all the way to Houston, Tx where Rice Athletics was invited to join the American Athletic Conference. The Owls don’t have a date when the move becomes official yet, but the announcement itself is a massive moment in Rice Athletics history.

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: Time runs out on inspiring season

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Rice volleyball gave Texas a run but couldn’t upend the ‘Horns, falling in the second round of the 2021 NCAA Tournament.

Rice volleyball was dealt a crushing blow last season when they were forced to bow out of the NCAA Tournament without playing a match because of COVID-19. Not only did the team never show any signs of lingering frustration, they bounced back and compiled one of the most impressive runs in program history.

The Owls blazed through Conference USA, notching a perfect 12-0 record before falling to Western Kentucky in the conference championship. Along the way they lost just six times, only once to an unranked team. That was more than enough to send them back to the NCAA Tournament once more, but this time they were able to compete, and compete they did.

Rice blanked San Diego 3-0, setting up a tantalizing Lone Star bout between Rice and Texas. The last time these two teams squared off in Austin, Rice won 3-2. This time, it was the Longhorns that came out on top, winning 3-0 in a match head coach Genny Volpe said “the score [wasn’t] very indicative of how competitive it was.”

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Rice netted the first set up 15-15 before Texas went on a run to put things out of reach. Then the Longhorns edged the Owls 25-23 in the second stanza. The third set was tied up 17-17 before Texas closed it all out with another run. Had there been a couple of breaks the other way, Rice might have been able to sneak another frame, but this time it just wasn’t in the cards.

“I’m extremely proud of how we played,” Volpe said.”All we ask as coaches is that they’re invested and they feel freed to compete and enjoy the competition because so much hard work goes into what they do. This team is truly invested, and I think you can tell. I think you can see it when we play. I think they inspire others as they inspire me.”

Rice hit .340 against Texas, 53 points better than their season average of .287 and 178 points better than the .162 hitting percentage the Longhorns had allowed to their opponents entering the showdown with the Owls.

Disappointed by the result, Volpe couldn’t help but smile when discussing the team’s effort. “We knew we wanted to embrace the opportunity and play Rice volleyball and we really feel like we can compete at the highest level when we play our game. And so my hope was just that this team was able to relax and trust the process that we’ve gone through and enjoy the moment. We did not get the result we wanted but I feel like they left everything on the floor and showed what a quality team we are.”

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Rice Volleyball: COVID-19 ends Owls’ NCAA Tournament early

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Rice volleyball will not participate in the NCAA Tournament. The Owls’ opening-round game has been canceled because of COVID-19 protocols.

When the brackets were announced, Rice volleyball erupted with elation. Despite falling in the Conference USA Tournament Championship Game, the Owls’ body of work had earned them an at-large bid in the NCAA Tournament. Months of hard work had paid off with the chance to compete for a national title.

And then late Wednesday night, that chance was unceremoniously ripped away.

A positive COVID-19 test within the Rice program forced the cancelation of the Owls’ opening-round game against N.C. A&T.  The Division I Women’s Volleyball Committee released a brief statement shortly after the scheduled start time of the match.

“The NCAA Division I Women’s Volleyball Committee has declared the Rice-N.C. A&T match for Wednesday night at the CHI Health Center Omaha convention center a no-contest because of COVID-19 protocols. As a result, N.C. A&T will advance to the next round of the tournament. The NCAA and the committee regret that Rice student-athletes and coaching staff will not be able to play in a tournament in which they earned the right to participate. Because of privacy issues we cannot provide further details.”

Rice arrived on Sunday for pre-match practices. Given a favorable draw and a head-to-head win over Texas already under their belt, the Owls had high expectations entering the week. Unfortunately, those hopes will not be realized this season.

Rice has since released a pair of statements:

“I’m heartbroken for our players, coaches, and support staff,” Rice Director of Athletics Joe Karlgaard said. “They’ve worked so hard this spring playing through difficult circumstances. Even with this terrible news, I want them to remember they’ve had a really terrific season. Rice is proud of who they are and what they’ve accomplished this year.”

“We are devastated that we won’t be able to compete in the NCAA Tournament this year,” AVCA South Region Coach of the Year Genny Volpe said. “This team deserved it, earning an at-large bid in a 48-team field and has so much to be proud of. It certainly is painful to see how much the team wanted to compete and to have to break the news to them that they couldn’t play. To compete in this tournament meant so much to all of us. Although this is a very sad moment, we know safety is the number one priority. We will be back stronger than ever. Rice Fight Never Dies.”

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