Wow, what a match, and a great atmosphere with both sides having good crowd support (though, once again, pretty meager student turnout). Every set a nailbiter with each team taking turns making runs. A 3+ hour match-- almost unheard of in womens volleyball. Each team recording over 100 digs. (Note-- entering this match Rice and Creighton were the only two team in the country that had two 100 dig matches to their credit....and now we both have three such matches). 5 players had double-digit digs (McCardell, Maruska, Harris, Mansfield and Graham). This is what elite defense looks like, and it's fun to watch. It's the first time I've been watching Rice volleyball (5+ years now) that we've had an above-average defense, and this year's defense is well above average.

IMO, the first set today was the best overall set played by Rice this year. For once, our offense was in sync, and we were being aggressive with our kill opportunities. Unfortunately, that did not last. We went soft and non-aggressive for much of the remainder of the match, save for Adekunle, who was once again unstoppable (23 kills, 3 errors, .408, 5 digs, 5 blocks). Maruska also played arguably her best match of the year, though she was used primarily on the back line until the fifth set (13 kills, 3 errors, .200, 19 digs. 3 blocks)...and McCardell was exceptional on the back line (32 digs). Both Kostelecky and Bichelmeyer and solid matches. On the down side, Courtley had her second consecutive poor performance (10 kills, 7 errors, .068) and it was only that good because she had 4 kills in the final set. Save for Graham and McCardell, Courtley played more minutes than anyone, and it was hard to figure out why Genny stuck with her.

Third consecutive 5-set win. We're now 4-1 in such matches this season. This team is the epitome of RFND-- gritty, resilient and perserverent. We were down 4-8 in that fifth set, and managed to turn it around. This team deserves to be in the Top 25, and deserves our active and vocal support. The lone loss being a 5-setter on the road to ranked Oregon, and wins against ranked Creighton, Houston, Texas Tech, Kansas State and LSU. Pretty impressive OOC resume, and we still have Baylor at home yet to come.