Volleyball Returns Home For Sunday Match Versus Rice

WHERE THE NINERS RANK

Charlotte currently holds the seventh seed in the American standings with the conference tournament less than three weeks away. After being picked 11th in the preseason poll, Charlotte has performed well under Benavia Jenkins with a 15-8 overall record while having a 6-5 conference record.

The Niners are ninth in the NCAA and second in the conference averaging 17.14 digs per set. Individually, Annika Thompson is seventh nationally and leads the American averaging 5.18 digs per set. Charlotte’s maintained a strong presence at the net, averaging an American best 2.50 blocks per set. Offensively, the Niners boast a .242 hitting percentage, second best behind Tulsa (.272).

SCOUTING RICE

Rice enters the match riding a 10-game winning streak, sitting atop the American Conference standings tied with South Florida at 10-1 in league play. The Owls’ splits are 8-4 at home, 5-2 away, and 1-2 neutral to make their 14-8 overall record. Lademi Ogunlana is second in the conference with a .396 hitting percentage while being sixth with 161 kills. Depth is the strength of Rice as the Owls have six players ranked in the top 10 of the conference in categories such as hitting percentage, kills, assists, digs, blocks and points per set. Kaia Mateo is the reigning American Conference Setter of the Week after totaling 45 assists and 18 digs in Rice’s win over Tulane. She led the conference in assists per set last week at 11.86 while adding in five blocks.

LAST TIME OUT

Following a hard-fought loss to South Florida inside Halton Arena on Sunday, Charlotte aimed to get back into the win column on Friday at Temple. Jaylen Jordan paced the Niners early with five kills and five digs in the first set, as part of a set that featured 12 ties and four lead changes. Jordan’s fifth kill of the set tied the score at 20-20. An attacking error by Kristen Birmingham, a setting error from Sofia Locadia, and a service error from Annika Thompson helped propel Temple to a 5-1 scoring run to end the set victorious 25-21.

Charlotte rallied back in set two with their best offensive numbers in the match, hitting .333 as a team. Jessica Ricks led the effort with eight kills on her 16 total attacks. Lauren Nixon’s all-around effort of nine assists and five digs were also critical to Charlotte tying the match at one set apiece.

After seeing the most playing time thus far in her collegiate career on Sunday, Milena Lopez once again entered the match playing in three of the four sets. Lopez struggled to find a rhythm in set three, committing three setting errors to go along with her six assists. Christiana Greene and Alyssa Finister combined to have 10 of Temple’s 14 kills in the set, as the Owls led wire-to-wire for the 25-18 set win.

Temple’s defense outperformed Charlotte’s in terms of blocking, finishing with a nine to three advantage in the match. In the fourth set, Temple added three more to their total. Charlotte committed four service errors in both the first and fourth set, finishing the match with 13 compared to Temple’s two. Greene added six more kills for Temple, finishing the match with 24, leading the Owls to the 3-1 win.

INSIDE THE BOX SCORE

Jaylen Jordan recorded a double-double with her 13 kills and 13 digs. Annika Thompson’s 16 digs were a team-high for Charlotte, as were Jessica Ricks’ 14 kills. Starting in three of the four sets, Lauren Nixon tallied 23 assists and seven digs. Charlotte struggled in the blocking category, finishing the match with just three to Temple’s nine.

NEXT UP

Charlotte will return to action on Sunday (Nov. 2) when they host the first place Rice Owls inside Halton Arena. First serve is set for 1:00 p.m., streaming live on ESPN+.