Women's Volleyball 9/18/2015 7:21:00 PM UNCGSpartans.com

Volleyball Swept by Rice to Open Baylor Classic

Box Score WACO, Texas – UNCG lost the first set Friday afternoon and could not quite recover falling in three sets (16-25, 22-25, 22-25) to Rice in the first match of the Baylor Classic inside the Ferrell Center. The Spartans had their seven-match winning streak snapped and moved to 10-3 overall while the Owls are now 9-3 on their campaign.

UNCG faced a stern test against Rice as the Owls previously picked up victories over LSU and Colorado but the Spartans held their own late in the second and third sets before eventually suffering the sweep.

Junior outside hitter Jessica Brezwyn led the Spartan offensive efforts with 12 kills while sophomore outside Ashley Muench also reached double figures at 10. Senior defensive specialist Katherine Santiago was all over the floor and picked up 21 digs to average seven per set.

UNCG ended up with a .162 hitting percentage tallying 35 kills in 117 attempts with 16 errors. Rice hit over .300 and knocked down 46 kills on 111 attempts with 12 errors for a .306 mark. The Owls also had the better of the digging 57-40 and the blocking 7.0 to 3.0. The Spartans held the upper hand in service aces 6-2 as senior middle hitter Julia Westerbur recorded two of her own.

With the first set knotted at five early, UNCG took a timeout when an attacking error and an ace put the Owls in front 7-5. The Spartans stayed as close as 12-11 as the stanza moved forward but a 7-2 Rice run extended the Owls' cushion to 19-13. That would prove enough as Rice captured the first frame 25-16.

The teams battled in the early portion of set two and UNCG later rallied from a 12-9 deficit to deadlock the score at 13. A pair of consecutive kills by Muench put the Spartans ahead 18-17 and prompted an Owl timeout before Rice recovered to pull ahead 23-20. A kill by Muench and a Rice attacking error made the score 23-22 but the Owls escaped with two-straight points to claim the stanza 25-22.

The Blue and Gold fell behind early at 4-0 in the third frame but a solo block by junior middle hitter Chinwendu Ngwadom kept UNCG close trailing just 12-11. Rice looked to pull away later leading 20-15. The Spartans had other ideas though and scored seven of the next 10 points to draw within 22-21. Brezwyn helped UNCG fend off one match point with a kill but Leah Mikesky responded with a kill to put the match away.

The Spartans will play two matches tomorrow facing off against Baylor at 11 a.m. and Stephen F. Austin at 5:30 p.m.

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