SAN ANTONIO – The UTSA Volleyball team fell 25-23, 25-21, 25-22 at the hands of Rice on Sunday in American Athletic Conference action at the Convocation Center.
The Roadrunners (8-17, 2-10 The American) fell to the Owls (15-6. 10-2 The American) as junior Mia Soerensen charted 10 kills to lead the team, while sophomore Annika Sokol managed 20 assists and classmate Peyton Turner tied for the match-high with 13 assists.
The Owls built a 9-5 lead early in the first frame, before UTSA battled back with a Krueger kill helping the squad to a 10-10 tie. A back-and-forth battle ensued, prompting a 23-23 deadlock. Rice, however, strung together a pair of kills to take the set, 25-23.
After exchanging blows for the majority of the second stanza, Sokol launched a service ace that handed UTSA an 18-17 edge. The Owls then scored five straight for a 22-17 lead that they didn’t relinquish en route to a 25-21 win.
A block and a kill for Soerensen helped the ‘Runners to a 12-9 lead in the third, but Rice against responded using another 5-0 run to go up 15-13. UTSA battled back, as a stretch that saw kills for Soerensen, Tribe and Sokol put the Roadrunners in the driver’s seat, 20-19. The Owls knotted things up, and pulled away, securing a 25-22 victory as well as the match.
UTSA will remain in the Convo for their next two contests, with Memphis on the docket Friday at 6 p.m., ahead of a noon contest with Florida Atlantic on Sunday.
Keep up with UTSA Volleyball on goutsa.com, and by following the program on Facebook at /UTSAVBall, Twitter @UTSAVolleyball, and on Instagram @utsa_vb.
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