Series will conclude on Monday at 1 p.m.
SAN ANTONIO – Rice rallied to beat UTSA volleyball in five sets (26-28, 21-25, 27-25, 10-15) on Sunday afternoon at the Convocation Center.
UTSA (3-8, 1-4 Conference USA) fell vs. Rice (8-3, 7-0 C-USA) but managed to snap the streak of the Owls, who had won 18 straight sets in league play entering the matchup with the Roadrunners, posting wins in set three and four to force a five setter.
The Roadrunners had a strong chance in the first set, using a 6-2 start and a 7-0 run to build a 20-10 lead but the Owls rallied from behind to claim the game. Rice posted a 25-21 win in the second set before UTSA used a late rally to force the fourth set. The Owls built an early 6-1 lead and were able to hold off UTSA's charge for the fifth-set win.
Hunter Coppola, a native of Verona, N.J., had 11 kills with five digs. Kirby Smith, the 2019 C-USA Freshman of the Year, earned a double-double with 12 kills and 20 digs.
Bianca Ejesieme had 12 kills, three digs and two blocks.
Courtney Walters, a native of McKinney, Texas, led UTSA with 48 assists.
Junior libero Mia Ybarra had 20 digs.
Nicole Lennon led Rice with 19 kills and 19 digs. Rice hit .188 in the win, with UTSA hitting .128.
The series will conclude on Monday at 1 p.m. on CUSA TV.
The Roadrunners roared out of the gate, notching six of the first eight points. Rice rallied back to cut the lead to 11-9 before UTSA used a 7-0 run to take a 20-10 lead. A 4-0 Rice run cut the lead to 20-14 and the Owls then scored nine of the next 12 points to even it at 23. The game was evened at 24, 25 and 26 before the Owls finished off the 28-26 win. UTSA hit .111 in the first set, with Rice hitting .200.
The Owls rode the momentum from the finish to the first set to six of the first nine points, taking a 10-5 lead before using a 3-0 run to take a 13-8 lead and force a timeout from UTSA's head coach Laura Neugebauer-Groff, the all-time winningest coach in Roadrunner history. UTSA rallied to cut the lead to 19-18 and force an Owls timeout but Rice was able to finish off the win to take a 2-0 lead.
The Owls scored four of the first five points to open the third set. The Roadrunners rallied on a 6-0 run to take a 7-5 lead, getting a key block from Langridge and Smith and an ace from Maddie Thayer in the run. The Roadrunners took the lead to 12-8 after a kill from Amanda Ifeanyi, her second. After an Ejesieme block, UTSA took a 17-13 lead and forced a Rice timeout. Rice ripped off the next four points to even the set at 17. Rice took a 20-18 lead before a UTSA timeout. The Roadrunners rallied to score nine of the next 14 points to claim the 27-25 win.
The Roadrunners roared out of the gate in the fourth, scoring five of the first seven points and taking an 8-3 lead before a Rice timeout. UTSA's lead grew to 17-12 and the Roadrunners reached set point at 24-22. The Owls evened the game at 24 after an ace from Izzy Rawlings. Smith's 11th kill got UTSA back to set point at 26-25, finishing off the 27-25 win.
Rice notched the first three points of the fifth set, taking the lead to 6-1 before UTSA rallied back to cut the lead to 7-4. UTSA got within three at 13-10 but the Owls were able to finish off the five-set win.
- UTSA -
