Sept 20 is a real "Super Saturday"* for Rice sports:

11:00 Football v Old Dominion: home opener and conference opener
4:00 Volleyball v Stephen F Austin: Rice is red-hot, and SFA is historically a good team. This is the final game of the Rice Invitational, which begins Friday.
7:00 Soccer v Air Force: Rice is off to a great start (only one loss in six games).


It's rare for all three of these teams to be playing at home on the same day (in fact, it's rare for soccer to have a Saturday match at all). And it is especially rare for the times to be staggered so that fans can see all three matches. Thank you to the folks who made all this happen so nicely!

Lagniappe: Men's tennis hosts its own Rice Invitational on Fri, Sat and Sun; and women's tennis is just down the road at UH the same days. Everywhere you look in Houston this weekend, the Owls are competing.


On another note: I heard that over 1000 people are expected for the student/parent pre-game festivities for Families Weekend. I also understand that Rice has sold a good bit more season tickets this year than in recent years. These are all great things! If you were thinking "Morning kickoff + distant opponent = I can show up 30 minutes before kickoff and still get my favorite parking spot", you might be not quite right.


*As you probably guessed, I borrowed this term from the final Saturday of the U.S. Open, when the two men's semifinals and the women's final take place one after the other (usually, though not in 2013 or 2014, but it's supposed to revert in 2015). It seems like a good term for having three contests all in a row.

(09-19-2014 12:01 AM)georgewebb Wrote:  Sept 20 is a real "Super Saturday"* for Rice sports:

11:00 Football v Old Dominion: home opener and conference opener
4:00 Volleyball v Stephen F Austin: Rice is red-hot, and SFA is historically a good team. This is the final game of the Rice Invitational, which begins Friday.
7:00 Soccer v Air Force: Rice is off to a great start (only one loss in six games).

This is cool: fans will be able to take their football ticket stub and get a discounted ticket (just $5) to the volleyball match or the soccer game. Nice idea!

For reference, the ticket booth at the soccer stadium does not take credit cards.

(09-19-2014 11:15 PM)georgewebb Wrote:  

(09-19-2014 12:01 AM)georgewebb Wrote:  Sept 20 is a real "Super Saturday"* for Rice sports:

11:00 Football v Old Dominion: home opener and conference opener
4:00 Volleyball v Stephen F Austin: Rice is red-hot, and SFA is historically a good team. This is the final game of the Rice Invitational, which begins Friday.
7:00 Soccer v Air Force: Rice is off to a great start (only one loss in six games).

This is cool: fans will be able to take their football ticket stub and get a discounted ticket (just $5) to the volleyball match or the soccer game. Nice idea!

For reference, the ticket booth at the soccer stadium does not take credit cards.

And the weather has turned out excellent. Let's get started! GO OWLS!

(09-19-2014 12:01 AM)georgewebb Wrote:  Sept 20 is a real "Super Saturday"* for Rice sports:

11:00 Football v Old Dominion: home opener and conference opener
4:00 Volleyball v Stephen F Austin: Rice is red-hot, and SFA is historically a good team. This is the final game of the Rice Invitational, which begins Friday.
7:00 Soccer v Air Force: Rice is off to a great start (only one loss in six games).

Lagniappe: Men's tennis hosts its own Rice Invitational on Fri, Sat and Sun; and women's tennis is just down the road at UH the same days. Everywhere you look in Houston this weekend, the Owls are competing.

A great day on campus!

9:45 Parents Weekend barbecue: ran into some good friends whose daughter is at Rice, and they introduced me to their friends whose son is at Rice -- turns out that couple lives in Houston and the dad works about three blocks from me. Now I've got new friends!

11:00 Rice Stadium: Rice v Old Dominion (fully discussed elsewhere)

2:30 Lunch with a friend at a good little spot near campus

3:30 Jake Hess: watched Rice junior Adam Gustafsson win his singles match in a deciding match tiebreak to advance to the quarterfinals.

4:00 Tudor Fieldhouse: watched Rice volleyball survive four hard-fought sets to knock off SFA three sets to one (25-16, 26-24, 23-25, 25-20). The second set in particular was a gritty comeback win for the Owls. A couple of fans poured their hearts into the last several points, and perhaps that support made a slight difference.

6:15 Jake Hess: the courts were still drying out after a rain delay, so no matches in progress -- but I pitched in and helped squeegee the courts.

6:45 En route to soccer, I walked through the back part of Autry Court and took some neat pictures of the now-disused pool, racquetball/squash courts, and locker room. I wonder if Melissa Kean would like them.

7:00 Holloway Field: watched first half of Rice v Air Force. The Owls were down 2-0 by the 23rd minute but got one back to trail 2-1 at the half. Rice then tied it in the second half, and won in the 6th minute of sudden-death overtime on a second-chance goal by junior forward Lauren Hughes.

8:00 Jake Hess: saw Rice sophomore David Warrren finish a two-set win in the last quarterfinal match of the day.

Go Owls!

Soccer wins 3-2 in OT! 5th OT of the season, finish non-conference 4-1-2.