The Cougars are undefeated at the Athletics/Alumni Center this season, but will try to win on the road as they make the short trip across town to face Conference USA rival Rice tonight.
The Cougars (13-8, 5-3 C-USA) will try to extend their conference win-streak to three at 7 p.m. at Fox Gym.
"Rice is coming off a long win streak, so we’ve got to make sure that we play our game and don’t get caught up in who they played or how they’re doing," senior setter Kelsey King said.
Rice (15-4, 6-2 C-USA) is in the midst of a five-game win streak, most recently against Central Florida on Saturday. The Owls have won 10 of their last 12 games and have not lost a conference game since Tulsa beat them in four sets on Oct. 5.
Senior outside hitter Karyn Morgan leads the Owls with 216 kills while sophomore defensive specialist Tracey Lam has accumulated 330 digs on the season. Lam was named the C-USA Defensive Player of the Week on Monday for the third time this season and the fourth in her career.
Still, King said the Cougars have confidence in their ability to match up against Rice.
"When we play our best, we can hang with anyone in conference," she said.
The Cougars proved that by sweeping their weekend games against C-USA opponents UCF and Southern Miss. Against the Knights, senior outside hitter Justine Farmer had a season-best 26 kills, and the team posted 20 blocks, its highest total of the season, to win in five sets.
Farmer leads the conference with a 3.87 kill per set average and has a team and conference-best 298 kills this season.
Sophomore defensive specialist Amanda Carson leads the league with a 0.43 service ace per set average and has dropped a team-high 34 aces this season.
Houston and Rice split their two matches last season, with the Owls getting the best of the Cougars in their last contest.
Although they aren’t playing at home, the Cougars hope being in Houston will still give them an advantage this time.
"Last year, we didn’t play well at Rice, so we’ve definitely got to make sure to stay focused," King said. "Hopefully we can get some of our fans to drive down there to Rice."
Admission to the game is free for all students.
