HATTIESBURG, Miss. — No. 4 seed Rice swept top-seeded UTSA by scores of 25-22, 25-18 and 26-24 on Saturday in the first semifinal of the Conference USA Tournament.
The Owls improved to 23-9 overall in advancing to Sunday's championship match and avenged a pair of losses to the Roadrunners (20-9) in the regular season.
Dajana Boskovic racked up 21 kills and 11 digs for her 11th double-double of the season, while Dempsey Thornton chipped in with 11 winners and 10 digs. Jessica Waldrip dished out 35 assists.
UTSA hit .441 in the first set, but the Roadrunners slowly declined and hit below .200 in the remaining two sets.
Rice held UTSA to a -.026 hitting percentage in the second set and headed into the locker room with a commanding 2-0 lead.
The Roadrunners managed to tie the score six times in the final stanza and on the cusp of avoiding the sweep. A defensive miscue by Rice knotted the score at 24 late in the third, but back-to-back kills from Leah Mikesky and Chelsey Harris sent UTSA home.