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Nicole Lennon highlighted Rice's arsenal with 16 kills and she added nine digs, two service aces and two assists. Tori Woogk and Anota Adekunle chipped in with eight and seven kills, respectively. Lee Ann Cunningham registered 13 digs and five assists for the Owls. Grace Morgan notched six kills and six blocks.
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Rice improved to 27-3, registering their third victory of the season over a Big 12 Conference opponent.
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The Owls made four previous tournament appearances, all in Austin, losing 3-1 on three occasions (2004, '08, '18) and 3-0 once (2009).
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Brianna Kadiku put in a strong performance in the Sooners' losing effort, logging 10 kills and a .409 attack percentage. Paige Anderson, Ashlynn Dunbar and Sarah Sanders each registered six kills.
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Oklahoma closed out the 2019 campaign with a 19-9 record. It marked the end of their 12th trip to the NCAA Tournament.
Set One
Rice raced out to a 13-5 lead, pounding out 10 kills in 22 attempts, including five by Lennon. Oklahoma's Kadiku put down two kills and recorded two block assists to key a 9-2 run, including a 5-0 stretch, as the Sooners pulled to within a point at 15-14. An Oklahoma service error and attack error sparked a 6-2 run by the Owls as they extended their lead back out to 21-16. The Sooners drew no closer than four points the rest of the set. Lennon paced Rice with six kills, four digs and two blocks.Â
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Set Two
Oklahoma took advantage of two attack errors and a block error by Rice to start the set with a 4-1 advantage. Rice rebounded with a 4-1 run to tie the match at 5-5. The set was tied four more times before the Owls claimed command with a 5-0 run to take a 19-16 lead. The Sooners towed to within two points four times down the stretch, but Rice won the set on an attack error by Oklahoma's Dunbar. Lennon and Woogk spearheaded the Owls' assault with five and four kills, respectively.
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Set Three
The squads jousted early with the match tied at 1, 2, and 4, before kills by the Owls' Carly Graham, Ellie Bichelmeyer and Morgan sparked a 5-1 run, giving Rice a 9-5 edge. Oklahoma closed the gap to 10-8, but the Owls' extended the lead back out to 17-11 with a 7-3 stretch capped by a Keyton Kinley service ace. The Sooners made one last stand, taking advantage of Bichelmeyer's attack error and block error to rattle of three consecutive points and cut the margin to 19-16. Rice's Tabitha Brown and Morgan each had three blocks in the set and Lennon added five kills, three digs and a service ace.
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Post-Match Quotes
Rice Head Coach Genny Volpe
Opening statement… "I'm really proud of the team and how they came out executed at very high level right from the beginning, and were very consistent in our execution of the game plan. Oklahoma's a great team. They absolutely just had a phenomenal season. We knew it was going to be a tough match, and we knew we had to execute at a high level to achieve the win. Extremely proud that we were able to do it in three."
On how big of a win this is for them… "The NCAA tournament is anybody's game, and we definitely came in with a sense of urgency. Our team has been consistent all year, and we just really focused on continuing to have that same mindset no matter what stage we're on. This is the biggest stage that we can play on, So that's going to be how we operate from here on out. I definitely think it's a testament to our team's hard work, their ability to just focus and be consistent. One thing I was really impressed with today was when they made a mistake, they bounced back very quickly. That's going to be necessary to move on."
Rice Outside Hitter Nicole Lennon
On what the sweep means for them… "Well we respected Oklahoma a lot coming in. They were a Big 12 school and they had a good offense. So we knew coming out with the win today in general would be amazing. I'm just glad we could execute at a high level. We stayed aggressive the whole time, and I think that was the key for us."
Rice Middle Blocker Grace Morgan
On what made her successful with her blocks… "Thanks to our awesome coaching staff, I was very prepared for what was going to happen. We watched film extensively on them, I had studied them so we kind of had an idea about their tendencies. I had my teammates setting up the block really nicely for me, so they made my job a lot easier, and it ended up really working out."
Oklahoma Head Coach Lindsey Gray-Walton
Opening Statement… "First I want to thank A&M and what they've done for us as a program here, welcoming us in. This group has been really special to us in the last two years. Just in the turnaround of belief and being the ones to start the new era, quote unquote that we want to have as a vision for this program. These two [Paige Anderson and Brianna Kadiku] are are part of it, but I can't thank everyone in that room enough. These people, the support staff, have allowed us and given us the support to do what we want to do, and dream big. So, we're appreciative of that, and also we're not done yet. Tonight was a great experience for us. Are we happy with the outcome? No, no competitor ever is. But definitely a life lesson and moment that we can learn from. And these two. [Brianna Kadiku] is gonna go out as one of the best blockers in the crimson, and [Paige Anderson] has another year, so she's motivated to come back. We as a staff are motivated make them better so that we can have a different outcome next year. But we're appreciative of the opportunity and happy to be one of 64."
On the importance of making it to the tournament… "It's a really good spot to be, to continue their growth going forward. Like [Brianna] said, we do have a room for juniors in there, who definitely return and I hope this sits with them to motivate the people around them and themselves that they choose to get over the loss and learn more, even as as senior. And that can be in leadership, that can be in a lot of different areas. We do have a lot of returners that come back, and we do have people now that have experienced this moment. If they're truly competitors in there it's gonna fire them up, and they're going to want to come back in January with some fight in them. Kind of the way they decided last year this time that they didn't like not seeing their name and they reinvested in themselves. I think you'll see this group do that again, because just like in the big 12 just like in this game, the parity is real. Nothing is ever handed to you. We now have experienced our moment, and now we're ready for it and that they will make it on when we have it next time."
Oklahoma Middle Blocker Paige Anderson
On how they expected Rice to come out … "Any team in this tournament is gonna come out blazing. We watched film, we study what they do, and we we knew what we were cut out for. I think that we wanted to put up a fight, and honestly we didn't do all that we could, in my opinion. Obviously we weren't planning on getting swept, but we're expecting them to do what they did. I mean, it's mostly on our side. We always say, 'Control our side, control the controllables.' So I think that you know we just slipped up. Not everyone makes it here. Everyone's going to be good. Rice is a good team., They beat Texas at the beginning of the year, and we played Texas in conference. So we knew we knew like what they can do, and they've strong hitters."
Oklahoma Middle Blocker Brianna Kadiku
On the growth of the team… "From my day one until now, I think we've grown tremendously. From blocking, passing, hitting, altogether. Even our our volleyball IQ has grown. Everyone on our team has good volleyball IQ. Me personally, I've grown. Before, I thought I was good. Now I came here, and I realized I had a lot to learn, and I think I learned it."
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