Lady Raiders take home silver in Host Tournament

The Rice Lady Raiders opened their gym to multiple schools for the Lady Raider Volleyball Classic on Thursday, Aug. 29, through Saturday, Aug. 31.

The Lady Raiders were looking to make a big impact in their host tournament, and they did by earning a silver medal.

How they got to that point was very impressive. Looking at the Lady Raiders teams from last season to this season the improvement the team shown during the tournament cannot be understated.

The Lady Raiders spent a lot of last seasons focusing on fundamentals with an overall goal of improving so there were some growing pains. However, this season the Lady Raiders are a different team that plays aggressively and confidently.

Day one of the tournament saw the Lady Raiders played three very talented teams in Giddings, Fayetteville and Flatonia. They started their tournament with a win over Giddings (25-20; 25-13) a sign of things to come because the Lady Raiders were just getting started.

Their next game against Fayetteville presented the first bit of adversity the Lady Raiders had to battle through. They dropped the first set to Fayetteville 14-25 putting themselves in a hole heading into set two.

To was a very competitive set win both teams delivering crushing blows to the other as the lead changed multiple times. The Lady Raiders made one final push in the set and came away with a 26-24 victory to even things up before the third and final set.

The Lady Raiders rode their momentum of winning the second set and dominated the thrid set by a score of 25-15.

Lastly the played Flatonia, possibly their toughest matchup of the day. Flatonia swept the Lady Raiders in two sets (25-13; 25-19) which was their first loss of the tournament, but Rice would be seeing Flatonia again very soon.

Day two saw the Lady Raiders matchup against two of the best teams in the entire tournament in Columbus and Iola. Both teams swept Rice in two sets, Vs. Columbus (25-8; 25-13) Vs. Iola (25-10; 2517).

Game three saw the Lady Raiders drop the first set to St. Paul (25-14) and just when it seemed like they were going to be swept again the Lady Raiders showed their true colors. They came all the way back winning back-to-back sets 25-20 and 15-12 to secure a spot in Saturday’s Silver Bracket.

The Silver Bracket consisted of the Lady Raiders, Flatonia, St. Paul and Hallettsville Sacred Heart. The Lady Raiders were matched up with Sacred Heart with an opportunity to play for the Championship on the line.

It took three sets to get the job done but the Lady Raiders prevailed (25-17; 23-25; 25-15) and set their sights again on Flatonia in the Championship. The Lady Raiders gave Flatonia a better game in the Championship but unfortunately, the result was the same with Flatonia sweeping the Lady Raiders (25-13; 25-15) and claiming the Championship.

With the tournament in the rear view the Lady Raiders look forward to jumping back into the action on Tuesday, Sept. 3, when they take on Louise.