Southern Miss
-910 (33 CUSA)
Rice
-144 (50 CUSA)
Rice Outlasts Southern Miss in Barnburner
10/7/2018 4:56:00 PM | Women's Volleyball
HATTIESBURG, Miss. – It was an expected battle, but the battle that ensued between Rice (14-4, 5-0 C-USA) and Southern Miss (9-10, 3-3 C-USA) was one that couldn't have been predicted to the likes of Sunday's game. In the end, the Owls outlasted the Golden Eagles in five sets (25-22, 22-25, 17-25, 25-22, 12-15).
Despite the loss, several Southern Miss players had career days. It started with the duo of Kylie Grandy and Sarah Bell. The two have been a force for the Golden Eagles all season, but today it was taken to another level.
Grandy, in the first set, jumped into No. 6 all-time in Southern Miss history for career kills and now has 1,366 kills and is five away from sliding into No. 5 all-time. Southern Miss went on to win that first set behind Grandy's powerful arm.
Bell, who put up 55 assists in Friday's game against Charlotte, continued to stay hot en route to 51 today. The 51 assists puts Bell at 4,709 for her career and is just 48 shy of passing Crystal Zane for No. 1 in Southern Miss history. Bell's impressive day ended with a career-high 29 digs and a double-double.
In the midst of those career numbers, the Owls were able to take the second and third sets via a dominant performance in the third frame. Southern Miss bounced back in what was a barnburner of a fourth set. The two teams traded points for 11 ties and three lead changes. The Golden Eagles utilized a 7-2 run late in the set to force a fifth frame.
Rice was able to jump to an 8-3 lead early in the frame, but Southern Miss was able to cut it to 9-7. The Owls would go on another run and the Golden Eagles would again slice the deficit to two points. However, Rice took the set on a kill from Nicole Lennon.
Madison Lawler recorded 19 digs and Grandy secured a double-double with 15 digs. At the net, Alexis Coombs finished with seven blocks to up the Golden Eagles' total to 14. Other Golden Eagles with double-digit kills were Catherine Repsher with 12 and Ashley Berry with 11.
Thoughts from Stephanie Radecki
"I think we've said all along this season that as a team we can compete with anyone if we play well. I don't think we played our best today, but it was high-level volleyball and it was a great match. If we had a couple more pieces show up today, then I think we would have won the match."
Â
Â
