The 2012 Rice Owls volleyball schedule revealed – Volleyball News
The head of volleyball programme at the Rice University, Genny Volpe, announced the 2012 schedule of women’s volleyball team on Tuesday, June 19.
According to the recently released schedule, the Owls will open the regular season at home. The Rice Invitational at Tudor Fieldhouse will be kicked off on August 24 and it will be the first venture for Owls in the regular season. The Rice ladies will be
joined by teams from BYU, Arkansas State, and Air Force in the opening tournament of the year.
The Rice Invitational will cover its length on August 25 and Owls will take on in-state rival UTSA on August 28. Next up, the team will take a road trip to Baton Rouge, Los Angeles, where they will meet Purdue, Washington, and host LSU. Following the two-day
tournament, Owls will return home.
Rice University will host the next two matches at home, while teams from Sam Houston State and North Dakota will join them. Rice squad will also get to play Ole Miss and Alabama A&M in the Ole Miss Tournament, which will take place from September 7-8.
The Rice Invitational II will mark the end of non-conference part of the Owls’ schedule in the 2012 season. Afterwards, the Conference-USA action will start off on Sept. 18 and it will run up till the end of November. Finally, the Conference USA Championship
will put an end to the regular season of Owls.
Rice University women’s volleyball team spent the last season under the command of head coach Volpe and finished with an overall record of 18-13. This year, the team mentor has even higher expectations from her players.
Speaking of the 2012 schedule, Volpe said that it will help her team to get significant victories for NCAA tournament consideration and it will also elevate Owls’ national ranking.
She concluded, "It is ideal in terms of opportunities to compete against NCAA calibre teams. Not only are we playing in a very competitive C-USA league, but in the non-conference portion of the schedule we are competing against a variety of high quality
opponents that have had tremendous success on the national level - Washington, Purdue, LSU, BYU - it just doesn't get any better than that."
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