HUNTINGTON, W.Va. – Marshall University received seven kills apiece from Emily Sullivan (Cincinnati, Ohio) and Jalicia Ross (Bank Village, Trinidad), but Rice was able to claim a 3-0 (15-25, 21-25, 18-25) sweep of the Thundering Herd in Friday night’s Conference USA volleyball match at the Cam Henderson Center.

With the loss, Marshall falls to 8-8 on the season, and 1-5 in league play. Rice improves to 12-4 overall and 3-2 in the conference.

The loss marked the first time since 2004 that a Marshall squad has been swept by conference opponent during the regular season. Ohio took a 3-0 decision over the Herd on Nov. 13, 2004 during Marshall’s final season in the Mid-American Conference (MAC).

Leading 2-0 in the match, Rice built a 17-11 cushion before using a 7-4 run to extend its lead to 24-15 and match point. A pair of Owls errors and a service ace by Megan Carlson (Andover, Minn.) denied Rice three straight match-point opportunities and brought the score to 24-18. Rice then used an assisted block from Natalie Bogan and Ashleigh McCord to seal the contest.

“It wasn’t pretty,” head coach Mitch Jacobs said following the match. “It wasn’t pretty. Hopefully a performance like this will get our pride up and we’ll be prepared to play Houston on Sunday.”

Rice jumped out to a quick 14-7 lead and increased that advantage to 20-10 on the strength of two kills from McCord, a kill by Caroline Gill and a termination by Meredith Schamun. The Herd responded by rallying for five of the next eight points, led by a pair of Elizabeth Herman (Dunwoody, Ga.) kills to bring the score to 23-15. From there, a Karyn Morgan kill and an assisted block by McCord and Bogan sealed the opening frame for the Owls.

The second set saw the Herd break out to an early 7-3 lead, but that advantage was short-lived as Rice accounted for 12 of the next 14 points and a 15-9 edge. Marshall used a Kristin Marcum (Arlington, Texas) kill, an assisted block by Marcum and Ross, and a pair of Rice attacking errors, to pull to within two at 15-13. From there, the teams played to three ties and a 20-20 score before Rice took a 24-20 lead on two Morgan kills, a Schamun put-down, and a Marshall attacking error. An Owls’ service error broke up the run, but Bogan blasted her fourth kill of the set to seal the stanza for Rice.

Carlson totaled a team-high eight digs and two service aces for the Herd, Marcum chipped in six kills on 14 swings (.357 hitting clip), while Herman struck for five kills.

Elizabeth Fleming (South Bend, Ind.) finished the match with 27 assists and seven digs, while Taylor Tanner (Union, Ky.) posted seven digs in the losing effort.

Marcum and Fleming added two assisted blocks each, while Ross and Layne Kehl (Mountain Top, Pa.) contributed one apiece.

Morgan and McCord registered a match-best nine kills each to lead Rice offensively. Tracey Lam dug a match-high 12 balls and Schamun passed out 27 assists in the winning effort. Bogan ended the night with seven kills and a .400 hitting percentage (7K, 1E, 15TA).

Marshall returns to C-USA action, Sunday, Oct. 12 with a 12:00 p.m. contest against Houston at the Henderson Center.