SAN ANTONIO – UTSA volleyball fell in three sets (10-25, 20-25, 13-25) against league power Rice, on Monday afternoon at the Convocation Center.
UTSA (3-9, 1-5 Conference USA) couldn't upend Rice (9-3, 8-0 C-USA) in the finale of the two-game series. UTSA pushed the Owls to five sets on Sunday – marking the first two sets dropped by Rice in league play in 2021 – but Rice was able to outlast UTSA's charge for the opening win.
The Owls posted a strong first-set win before UTSA found its footing in the second set, despite falling 25-20. The Owls used a strong start to open the third set, securing the win and the series sweep.
Junior Plano, Texas, native Kirby Smith had seven kills and 11 digs.
Sophomore Bianca Ejesieme had a team-leading eight kills on 14 swings.
Freshman Amanda Ifeanyi, a product of The Woodlands, Texas, finished with five kills.
Sophomore setter Courtney Walters, a native of McKinney, Texas, led UTSA with 18 assists.
Junior libero Mia Ybarra had 12 digs.
Rice finished the match hitting .376 as a team, with UTSA hitting .069.
The Roadrunners will return to action on Sunday and Monday at Louisiana Tech (0-13, 0-6 C-USA).
Rice opened the first set with the first seven points. The Owls took a 10-5 lead and finished off a 25-10 first-set win.
The Roadrunners rallied in the second set to take a 5-3 lead before a 3-0 Rice run allowed the Owls to regain the lead. The Owls took the lead to 15-12 before a Walters kill and a 3-0 run stretched the lead to 18-12. UTSA scored seven of the next 15 points to finish off the second-set win.
The teams traded points to open the third before Rice took off for a 7-3 lead. The lead grew to 10-4 before UTSA head coach Laura Neugebauer-Groff – the winningest coach in UTSA history – called timeout. Ifeayni finished her fifth kill to cut the lead to 10-5 out of the break. The lead grew to 15-6 before a Ejesieme kill – her sixth. Rice was able to finish off the set win for the sweep.
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