University of Southern Mississippi Athletics
Sunday, February 14
Hattiesburg, Miss.
1 p.m.
Southern Miss
vs
Rice
Photo by: Joe Harper
Southern Miss Set for Home Series with Rice to Begin League Play
2/13/2021 9:19:00 AM | Women's Volleyball
HATTIESBURG, Miss. -- The Southern Miss volleyball team will return to action for the first time in two weeks when it hosts preseason C-USA West favorite Rice Sunday (1 p.m.) and Monday (12 p.m.). Both are closed to the public but will air for free on CUSA.tv.
With UTEP having to postpone last weekend's matches due to COVID-19 issues, these will mark Southern Miss' eighth and ninth in a row at home, the longest stretch in program history. The Golden Eagles are 7-16 against the Owls, with their last win coming at home on Nov. 17, 2017.
The last match, a sweep of Nicholls on Feb. 2, saw the Golden Eagles rattle off a .406 hitting percentage. It last hit .400 above in the 2018 season. Kinsley Hanback's .715 clip (15 kills, 21 attacks) marked the team's best since Elise Ames in 2014 against Georgia.
Kenzie Smith's 32 assists in just two sets helped launch her to the fifth spot in the C-USA leaderboard (9.56 assists/set), which came after her impressive show in Southern Miss' dramatic, five-set victory over Southeastern Louisiana (Jan. 29). That match also saw Southern Miss post 14 blocks, its first time in double-digits since beating No. 1 WKU in the 2018 C-USA Quarterfinals. Nyanuer Bidit leads the team in that category with 25 on the year.
Defensively, only two opponents have hit above .200 (Southeastern and Nicholls). Southern Miss leads C-USA with 17.7 digs per set, and the real matchup will be with the Golden Eagles' No. 3 defense (.144) against Rice's No. 2 offense (.259).
The Owls are 3-3 after sweeping LA Tech last weekend, with the Lady Techsters only getting in the 20s once over those six sets. Rice has also played Houston and SMU twice over the start of the season. Last year's squad reached the second round of the NCAA Tournament, sweeping Oklahoma before falling to Texas A&M.
With UTEP having to postpone last weekend's matches due to COVID-19 issues, these will mark Southern Miss' eighth and ninth in a row at home, the longest stretch in program history. The Golden Eagles are 7-16 against the Owls, with their last win coming at home on Nov. 17, 2017.
The last match, a sweep of Nicholls on Feb. 2, saw the Golden Eagles rattle off a .406 hitting percentage. It last hit .400 above in the 2018 season. Kinsley Hanback's .715 clip (15 kills, 21 attacks) marked the team's best since Elise Ames in 2014 against Georgia.
Kenzie Smith's 32 assists in just two sets helped launch her to the fifth spot in the C-USA leaderboard (9.56 assists/set), which came after her impressive show in Southern Miss' dramatic, five-set victory over Southeastern Louisiana (Jan. 29). That match also saw Southern Miss post 14 blocks, its first time in double-digits since beating No. 1 WKU in the 2018 C-USA Quarterfinals. Nyanuer Bidit leads the team in that category with 25 on the year.
Defensively, only two opponents have hit above .200 (Southeastern and Nicholls). Southern Miss leads C-USA with 17.7 digs per set, and the real matchup will be with the Golden Eagles' No. 3 defense (.144) against Rice's No. 2 offense (.259).
The Owls are 3-3 after sweeping LA Tech last weekend, with the Lady Techsters only getting in the 20s once over those six sets. Rice has also played Houston and SMU twice over the start of the season. Last year's squad reached the second round of the NCAA Tournament, sweeping Oklahoma before falling to Texas A&M.
Players Mentioned
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