San Antonio, TX—UTSA is fighting for a top eight finish to qualify to compete in the American Conference volleyball tournament. Friday night’s five-set loss to Rice (25-18, 20-25, 19-25, 25-18, 15-11) made it more difficult, but the Roadrunners are steadfast and determined beat the odds.
Graduate outside hitter Amalia Simmons and senior middle blocker Stephanie Gutierrez contributed to the block assist and four kills tallied in the 5-1 run the Owls (16-9, 10-3 AMER) put together to break the five-all tie in the fifth set.
Simmons finished with 14 kills while hitting .333 for the night. Peterson added 16 kills and seven digs.
Redshirt-sophmore right side hitter Gigi Mason and redshirt junior middle blocker Ledisi Kpea delivered two kills and a block that paired with two Owl-service errors to cut the Rice lead to 11-13, forcing a timeout.
UTSA has battled significant injuries all season, losing multiple players in its starting lineup. Mason returned to competition in the second set and made an immediate impact despite being out since September. The Vanderbilt transfer had seven kills and three blocks in the set two alone, finishing with 13 kills and four blocks on the night.
Rice freshman outside hitter Ashlyn Seay rose up from beyond the pin and punished the gap caused by a defensive breakdown.
The 6-footer, who finished with 16 kills, smashed the ball through the block to call game at 15-11 on the next and final play, sealing the Rice victory.
“We get a blocking assignment and we miss it against a team like that, they’re going to make you pay when you’re one-on-one. We have to be better in those situations and continue to execute,” said UTSA coach Carol Price-Torok.
We’ll continue to grind and grow from that,” she added.
Rice freshman setter Zora Bello dished out 46 assists and 15 digs in the win.
After taking one of the top teams in the league to the wire, the Roadrunners are determined to, at worst, be a spoiler for the rest of the season but know that they have the potential to win out and play better at home. UTSA will play three of its final four regular season games at home, with the lone away game being at North Texas.
“We do play really well at home. It’s so nice to able to finish on our home court. So we’re just going to continue building that momentum and as we finish up the season, take any wins that we can get…stay as aggressive as we can possibly can and try to mess some things up conference-ranking-wise and get some wins under our belt,” said Alyssa Manitzas.
The redshirt-junior defensive specialist had a career-high 27 digs on the night.
“We’re still on the outside looking in. We just got to turn the tides and win one match and another and continue to go from there,” said Price Torok.
“Let’s just give it all we got. Let’s just put a beat down on everybody and give it our best,” said Mason
We’re playing fearless. We’re gonna get after it.”
The Owls have won their last three games and will be on the road against Temple on Sunday at 11 a.m. CT.
UTSA is currently on a six-game losing streak and will host Witchita State at home on Sunday at 1 p.m. C.T.
