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The Rice Lady Raiders have a much-improved squad this season after benefitting from an extra year of experience from a team that returned every player from last season. The Lady Raiders have already surpassed their record from last season and are on the hunt to finish with a higher district placement than their last place finish a season ago. After picking up their first district victory last week, they have taken a major step towards reaching their goal. Just a few matches into the district season, the Lady Raiders find themselves tied for fifth place and ahead of winless Tidehaven and Hallettsville.
Vs Industrial, L, 3-0
The Lady Raiders started their week on Sept. 12 with a sweep defeat to the Industrial Lady Cobras. Rice’s offense took some time to get going as the Lady Raiders failed to reach the 15-point threshold in the first two sets before breaking the 20-point mark in the final set of the sweep. After taking a 25-12 defeat in game one, the Lady Raiders fell even further behind in a 25-10 defeat in game two. Rice tightened up their offensive attack and responded with a close set in the third and final game, but they fell just short in a 2521 defeat.
Kimberly Hernandez and Ariana Palacios took the lead for the Lady Raiders defensively. Hernandez finished with a team-leading 10 digs while Palacios picked up nine to help Rice receive the ball and prevent attacking scores. Palacios also had two service aces as she contributed to both sides of the ball.
Raelee Nelson helped the offense flow with eight setter assists, while Abigail Hoelscher finished many of those passes for a team-leading seven kills.
Vs Palacios, W, 3-1
The Lady Raiders’ first district win of the season came after a highly competitive match that required every ounce of effort from Rice. The two teams stayed locked together during the first two sets as the winning team had to score more than 25 in each set to win by two. Rice eventually took a solid advantage and closed out the match in the final sets.
Game one was a close victory for the Lady Raiders as they battled in a back-and-forth opener. They found just enough opportunities to hold on for a 26-24 victory to start the match.
The next set also pushed past 25, but the Lady Sharks were the ones taking the advantage in game two. It was a similarly tight contest as the teams tried to create an advantage over the other. Rice competed well, but they fell just short of a victory as they suffered the 27-25 defeat.
After game two, the Lady Raiders took a firm grip over the match to close things out. Palacios still found opportunities to score, reaching the 15-point mark in each of the final two sets. However, Rice went on to win games three and four by a 25-18 margin in each to put the match away.
