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<h1 align="right" style="text-align:right"><b><span style="font-size:9.0pt;font-family:"Arial",sans-serif;text-decoration:none">BAYLOR ATHLETIC COMMUNICATIONS – Dec. 1, 2022<o:p></o:p></span></b></h1>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Arial",sans-serif"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><b><span style="font-size:13.0pt;font-family:"Arial",sans-serif;color:black">No. 20 Rice Claims First-Round Win over Colorado, 3-1</span></b><b><span style="font-size:13.0pt;font-family:"Arial",sans-serif;color:black"><o:p></o:p></span></b></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><b><i><span style="font-size:10.5pt;font-family:"Arial",sans-serif;color:black;background:white">Sahara Maruska goes for match-high 22 kills
<o:p></o:p></span></i></b></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><b><i><span style="font-size:10.5pt;font-family:"Arial",sans-serif;color:black;background:white"><o:p> </o:p></span></i></b></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><b><span style="font-size:10.5pt;font-family:"Arial",sans-serif;color:black;background:white"><a href="https://baylor.box.com/s/2gznb2yl7zxfqthviqiggxozpled896g">VIDEO: Post-Match Press Conferences</a><o:p></o:p></span></b></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><b><i><span style="font-size:10.5pt;font-family:"Arial",sans-serif;color:black;background:white"><o:p> </o:p></span></i></b></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><b><span style="font-size:9.0pt;font-family:"Arial",sans-serif">For more information contact:
</span></b><span style="font-size:9.0pt;font-family:"Arial",sans-serif">Brent Ingram; 210-845-8651,
</span><a href="mailto:brent_ingram@baylor.edu"><span style="font-size:9.0pt;font-family:"Arial",sans-serif">brent_ingram@baylor.edu</span></a><span style="font-size:9.0pt;font-family:"Arial",sans-serif"> <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:9.0pt;font-family:"Arial",sans-serif"> <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoBodyText"><b><span style="font-size:11.0pt">WACO, Texas --</span></b><span style="font-size:11.0pt"> Junior Sahara Maruska had 22 kills and fifth-year senior Carly Graham chipped in 49 assist and 17 digs, leading No. 20 Rice to a 3-1 win (26-24,
24-26, 25-15, 25-14) over Colorado in the first round of the NCAA Volleyball Tournament, on Thursday night at Baylor’s Ferrell Center.
<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoBodyText"><span style="font-size:11.0pt"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoBodyText"><span style="font-size:11.0pt">Rice (27-3) advances to the second round of the Waco Sub-Regional and will now face the winner of No. 17 Baylor (23-6) and Stephen F. Austin (26-4) on Friday at 7 p.m. on ESPN+. The winner of the Waco Sub-Regional
will advance to compete against the winner of the Louisville Sub-Regional. <o:p>
</o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoBodyText"><span style="font-size:11.0pt"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoBodyText"><span style="font-size:11.0pt">The Owls battled the Buffalos in a hard-fought first and second set, claiming the first, 26-24 before falling 26-24 in the second set to even it up. Rice, the Conference USA Champion, extended its winning
streak to five matches with dominating results in the third and fourth sets. <o:p>
</o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoBodyText"><span style="font-size:11.0pt"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoBodyText"><span style="font-size:11.0pt">Maruska had a match-best 22 kills with six digs, hitting .309. Ellie Bichelmeyer had 17 kills and five digs, while Danyle Courtley finished with 12 digs. Graham, the three-time C-USA Setter of the Year,
had 49 assists, 17 digs and two kills. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoBodyText"><span style="font-size:11.0pt"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoBodyText"><span style="font-size:11.0pt">Colorado (20-10) hit .114 in the match and totaled nine blocks. The Buffs had 20 kills from graduate student Lexi Hadrych, a native of Murrieta, Calif., and a transfer from UCLA. Maya Tabron had 17 digs
and nine kills. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoBodyText"><span style="font-size:11.0pt"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoBodyText" align="center" style="text-align:center"><b><span style="font-size:11.0pt">Post-Match Quotes<o:p></o:p></span></b></p>
<p class="MsoBodyText"><span style="font-size:11.0pt"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoBodyText"><b><span style="font-size:11.0pt">Rice Head Coach Genny Volpe<o:p></o:p></span></b></p>
<p class="MsoBodyText"><i><span style="font-size:11.0pt">Opening Statement…<o:p></o:p></span></i></p>
<p class="MsoBodyText"><span style="font-size:11.0pt">“I’m just really proud of this team. Colorado is a tough opponent. We had a great season, and we knew that they were going to present some challenges. And I am really proud of how the team stepped up and
fought through some adversity, especially in sets one and two. I’m just really proud of how they found way to execute when we needed to execute and I am happy with the win.”<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoBodyText"><span style="font-size:11.0pt"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoBodyText"><i><span style="font-size:11.0pt">On Colorado’s fight and defense…<o:p></o:p></span></i></p>
<p class="MsoBodyText"><span style="font-size:11.0pt">“In this match in particular, we just had more balance. We had multiple players involved in the offense executing at a high level. We ended up paying .247, which is a little bit lower than our average. But
we had more people just stepping up to kill the ball and our defense held Colorado to a .114 hitting percentage, so in general our defense really anchored us the entire match. I thought Carly did an excellent job in getting everyone involved and when we were
struggling in one position, another position stepped up, so that’s been our ammo all season and we knew it would help us in this type of situation.”<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoBodyText"><span style="font-size:11.0pt"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoBodyText"><i><span style="font-size:11.0pt">On looking forward to facing SFA or Baylor…<o:p></o:p></span></i></p>
<p class="MsoBodyText"><span style="font-size:11.0pt">“Well, it helps when you plan accordingly with what you’ve seen before, but we don't know exactly know who is going to win this match. So we are definitely going to scout and we're gonna watch both teams.We
have a lot of respect for both programs. Debbie [Humphreys] has done a great job with SFA she’s got an excellent team and Ryan [McGuyre] obviously has a great team himself. So I think it's gonna be a great match. And we'll be prepared for whoever we play.
It's really about us executing on our side of the net, and we have a lot of competence in our abilities if we execute our style of play.”<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoBodyText"><span style="font-size:11.0pt"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoBodyText"><b><span style="font-size:11.0pt">Rice Setter Carly Graham<o:p></o:p></span></b></p>
<p class="MsoBodyText"><i><span style="font-size:11.0pt">On Colorado’s defense…<o:p></o:p></span></i></p>
<p class="MsoBodyText"><span style="font-size:11.0pt">“I think our coaches gave us a great scout that we were prepared for. Something we talked about is the back court working extremely hard for the front court and the front court working extremely hard for
the back court, to instill confidence and get everybody going. I thought our defensive effort was outstanding and we were truly fighting every single ball.”<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoBodyText"><span style="font-size:11.0pt"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoBodyText"><b><span style="font-size:11.0pt">Rice Outside Hitter Sahara Maruska<o:p></o:p></span></b></p>
<p class="MsoBodyText"><i><span style="font-size:11.0pt">On Coach Volpe’s defensive scheme…<o:p></o:p></span></i></p>
<p class="MsoBodyText"><span style="font-size:11.0pt">“I do, I think coming into this season, we’re really strong in defense, but obviously like there is always room for improvement. So that’s something that we were really trying to hone in on is our defense
and how fast we can get to the ball.”<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoBodyText"><span style="font-size:11.0pt"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoBodyText"><b><span style="font-size:11.0pt">Colorado Head Coach Jesse Mahoney<o:p></o:p></span></b></p>
<p class="MsoBodyText"><i><span style="font-size:11.0pt">Opening Statement...<o:p></o:p></span></i></p>
<p class="MsoBodyText"><span style="font-size:11.0pt">“First of all, we’re excited that we got the opportunity to make it to this event and we’ve been treated really well since we have been here. Rice is really good. Kudos to them for playing a hell of a match.
I felt like the first two sets were really competitive and could have gone either way, but the third and into the fourth, they just wore us out defensively. So the loss is frustrating, but we have a special group this year and they’ve been through a lot. I’m
proud of them for the season that they’ve had. We lose seven players, and those seven players meant a lot to our program.”<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoBodyText"><span style="font-size:11.0pt"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoBodyText"><i><span style="font-size:11.0pt">On Rice’s if part of the Pac 12…<o:p></o:p></span></i></p>
<p class="MsoBodyText"><span style="font-size:11.0pt">“I think [their play fits] pretty well. We finished fifth in the Pac 12. We're playing USC, UCLA and Washington in a pretty good league and pretty deep league. So obviously, they pass well, they have a really
nice system that they run and they have a setter that can do it.”<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoBodyText"><span style="font-size:11.0pt"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoBodyText"><i><span style="font-size:11.0pt">On returning to the NCAA Tournament…<o:p></o:p></span></i></p>
<p class="MsoBodyText"><span style="font-size:11.0pt">“Our season was a grind every match. Every match of ours was competitive in our league. Making it to this point, we had to win four of our last five games or whatever it was to get here, and it says a lot.
The experience of being here and so many of our players have an opportunity to come back next season. Hopefully this experience will help.”<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoBodyText"><span style="font-size:11.0pt"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoBodyText"><b><span style="font-size:11.0pt">Colorado Setter/Libero Brynna DeLuzio<o:p></o:p></span></b></p>
<p class="MsoBodyText"><i><span style="font-size:11.0pt">Thoughts on the match and season…<o:p></o:p></span></i></p>
<p class="MsoBodyText"><span style="font-size:11.0pt">“Just like [Coach Mahoney] was just saying, I'm just proud of what we've done given last couple of years. We kind of have this goal of being back in the tournament, and I think we've done everything in our
power to get here so you know, one loss or one game doesn't define us. I think that this season was so special for this group of girls.”<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoBodyText"><span style="font-size:11.0pt"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoBodyText"><i><span style="font-size:11.0pt">On an impression for the returning players next year…<o:p></o:p></span></i></p>
<p class="MsoBodyText"><span style="font-size:11.0pt">“Well, the younger players got to experience an NCAA tournament, which is kind of the best experience I think you get at that age and just see the grind that it takes to get here. The relationships that
we've been able to form, and it really is a special group of girls, having seen this type of chemistry that we've had in a while so just going out just leaving an imprint of forever friends.”<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoBodyText"><span style="font-size:11.0pt"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoBodyText"><b><span style="font-size:11.0pt">Colorado Middle Blocker Meegan Hart<o:p></o:p></span></b></p>
<p class="MsoBodyText"><i><span style="font-size:11.0pt">On what changed after the second set…<o:p></o:p></span></i></p>
<p class="MsoBodyText"><span style="font-size:11.0pt">“They’re a great team. Defensively, they stepped up in order to get some big swings and it can get frustrating when you know you're not scoring and you just keep trying to score and score. I think defensively,
it's just the speed.”<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoBodyText"><span style="font-size:11.0pt"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoBodyText"><i><span style="font-size:11.0pt">On an impression for the returning players next year…
<o:p></o:p></span></i></p>
<p class="MsoBodyText"><span style="font-size:11.0pt">“I’d say just not letting like past seasons define you. I think this year, whatever's happened in the past doesn't have to repeat this year. So I think that when I said just how close we are, and you know
cherish every moment these friendships last a lifetime, and just hold on to that. You're not going to remember 20 years from now that one hit you hit out or whatever it was, just remember the good moments and the big wins.”<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoBodyText"><span style="font-size:11.0pt"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoBodyText"><span style="font-size:11.0pt"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoBodyText" align="center" style="text-align:center"><i><span style="font-size:11.0pt">- BaylorBears.com -<o:p></o:p></span></i></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p></p>
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<p class="MsoNormal">-- <o:p></o:p></p>
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<p class="MsoNormal"><b><span style="color:#385623">Brent Ingram</span></b><span style="color:#385623"> </span><span style="color:black">| Assistant AD for Communications</span><span style="font-size:10.0pt;color:black"><o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="color:black">Department of Athletics | Baylor University</span><span style="font-size:10.0pt;color:black"><o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="color:black">C: 210-845-8651</span><span style="font-size:10.0pt;color:black"><o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:10.0pt;color:black"> <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:10.0pt;color:black"><img border="0" width="160" height="44" style="width:1.6666in;height:.4583in" id="Picture_x0020_1" src="cid:image001.png@01D905C2.842D83F0" alt="signature_1049805336"><o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="color:black"> </span><span style="font-size:10.0pt;color:black"><o:p></o:p></span></p>
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