HOUSTON – No. 21 Rice ended UTSA's run in the semifinals of the 2019 Conference USA Volleyball Championship at Tudor Fieldhouse Saturday.
In front of a pro-Rice contingent, the Roadrunners (16-13) came out firing on all cylinders. Freshman Courtney Walters produced a service ace on the first delivery of the contest and UTSA never trailed in the opening game. The Roadrunners thwarted any runs by the second-highest offense in the league all season by outhitting the Owls .480 to .083. UTSA converted 11 of 12 side-out opportunities.
Knotted at 7-7 in game two, Rice (26-2) utilized a 13-6 spurt and looked poised to even things at one-set each at the break. The youthful Roadrunners rallied to cut the deficit to one at 23-22 with eight points in succession. Back-to-back kills by Anota Adekunle salted away the win for Rice and the teams went to the break all-square.
Rice hit .455 (18-3-33) in game three and .441 (17-2-34) in the fourth set, securing the victory and a spot in the C-USA Finals against No. 19 Western Kentucky.
Senior Brianna McCulloch hit .333 and led the Roadrunners with 13 kills, inching closer to the 1,000-career kill milestone with 979. Walters dished out 28 assists, adding six digs and three service aces.
Emily Ramirez dug out a team best 15 attacks on defense, while Mia Perales tallied a double-double with 12 helpers and 10 digs.
UTSA finds out Dec. 1 if they earned a post-season berth in the 2019 National Invitational Volleyball Championship.
- UTSA -
For more information, contact:
Michael High (michael.high@utsa.edu; 210.845.9037)