HOUSTON, Texas—McNeese volleyball started Friday's match against Rice (5-0) on the first day of the Rice Invitational with aggressive play, but the Owls took control of the match with several scoring runs throughout the match to come away with the straight set win (25-18, 25-14, 25-20).
McNeese (0-5) will face Illinois at 1 p.m. Saturday in the Cowgirls final match of the tournament.
The Cowgirls' offense once again struggled and finished the match with a .033 hitting percent while Rice hit .290 with 18 blocks.
Ava Henry led McNeese with five kills while
Gabbie Maldonado ended the match with four.
Megan Grose led the Cowgirls with 11 assists and
Sophia Tocmo was credited with 10 digs.
Sydnee Peterson carried the Rice offense with a match high 17 kills and a .417 hitting percent.
SET 1
• With the set tied at 16 apiece, Rice scored eight straight points following a timeout to take a 24-16 lead.
• McNeese snapped the Rice scoring streak with kills from
Corynne Hausler and
Kayla Wilson
• Rice would win the set following a kill by Sydnee Peterson. Peterson collected half of the Owls kills in the first set, ending with eight
SET 2
• Rice's offense continued where it ended in the first set as the Owls jumped out to a 6-1 lead
• The Owls led 15-7 at the media timeout then outscored the Cowgirls 10-7 the rest of the way to take the set.
SET 3
• Trailing 11-7 in the set, McNeese scored the next two points on a Rice error, and an
Ava Henry kill to pull to within two (11-9)
• Rice scored four of the next five points to lead 15-10 at the media timeout
• McNeese scored four straight points out of the media timeout to pull to within one point (15-14)
• Rice came up with back-to-back blocks to take a 21-17 lead
• The Cowgirls scored two straight points on back-to-back kills on
Gabbie Maldonado and
Ava Henry cut into the lead (21-19)
• Rice ended the set on a 4-1 run to seal the set and overall match win
UPCOMING COWGIRL MATCHES
Sept. 5 vs. Illinois!
Sept. 10 at UL-Monroe
Sept. 11 at Grambling
Sept. 12 at La. Tech
Sept. 17 Grambling&
Sept. 19 Oral Roberts&
Sept. 23 UTRGV*
Sept. 26 at Texas A&M-Corpus Christi
!- Rice Invitational I
&- Cowgirl Classic
*- Southland Conference Match
