HOUSTON - The 2019 Conference USA Volleyball Championship opened Friday with No. 21 Rice hosting the postseason action at Tudor Fieldhouse. The league's top eight teams are competing in the three-day, single-elimination tournament for an automatic bid to the NCAA Championship. Four quarterfinal matches will be played on Friday with two semifinal meetings on Saturday. The weekend culminates in the conference championship on Sunday. All matches will be broadcast on ESPN with coverage available on conferenceusa.com and its Championship Central page.

Quarterfinal Match #4: (6) UTSA 3, (3) North Texas 1

Box Score
Bracket
Championship Stats

No. 6 seed UTSA upset third-seeded North Texas 3-1 in Friday's last quarterfinal match, but not before the Mean Green clawed its way through a marathon third-set win to extend the night. The Roadrunners will face No. 21 Rice in the 2:30 p.m. CT semifinal on Saturday. The upset marks the fifth-straight year a six seed has upset a three seed in C-USA's postseason tournament.

The regular-season matchup between these two teams happened less than one week ago and was stretched to five frames with North Texas securing the win on its home court. The Mean Green also bested the Roadrunners in four sets in the 2017 C-USA Semifinals, but UTSA found a way to avoid repeating history this time around. UTSA extended its record to 16-12 and hopes to find another victory in the team's sixth C-USA semifinal in seven seasons. North Texas capped its 2019 campaign at 16-11.

Roadrunner sophomore Hannah Lopez worked a 13-kill, 23-dig double-double with three block assists. Freshman Courtney Walters piled up 47 assists, senior Emily Ramirez added 24 digs and senior Kara Teal tallied four solo blocks and three block assists. North Texas collected 14 team blocks with six players grabbing at least two. Junior Miranda Youmans led all players with seven on the night. Junior Valerie Valerian did it all for the Mean Green, posting a double-double on 23 kills, 20 digs and three blocks.

The Roadrunners were able to avoid a fifth set, though the third and fourth frames proved to be dogfights. UTSA held on to take the final round 26-24 after a seven-point midway lead was erased by six-straight Mean Green points. The run included back-to-back stuffs from sophomore Rhett Robinson and costly attack errors. Another 4-0 run tied the action at 23, but two impactful kills from senior Brianna McCulloch and a final combo block from Teal and Lopez secured the win.

North Texas was determined to avoid a sweep and dug deep to see the third set through despite trailing 2-0 in the match. The Roadrunners were first to 25 courtesy of a service ace from sophomore Mia Perales, but set-points would be traded until UTSA could secure the win 34-32. A McCulloch kill sent North Texas ahead 32-31 before UTSA hung the final three points by way of a duo block and pair of kills.

North Texas opened the scoring action with a 5-0 run, though UTSA was able to jump within two with both teams committing their share of offensive errors. The teams then traded scores, but the Roadrunners would be the ones to pull away on five-straight points, including back-to-back service aces from Walters. A late 4-0 run that included two kills and a block from Youmans would keep the Mean Green in it 22-21. The two took turns scratching the scoreboard with UTSA being the first to 25 with two kills from McCulloch.

Back-to-back kills from Teal sealed the second-set victory for the Roadrunners 25-19. A back-and-forth race saw UTSA take control and jump out to an 18-13 lead, courtesy of three-consecutive points prior to a North Texas timeout, but it would never surrender the advantage from there and took a two-set lead into the break.

Quarterfinal Match #3: (2) No. 21 Rice 3, (7) UTEP 1

Box Score

Second-seeded No. 21 Rice outlasted seventh-seeded UTEP 3-1 in Friday's third quarterfinal matchup. The C-USA Championship host will move on to the 2:30 p.m. CT Saturday semifinal, awaiting the winner of (3) North Texas and (6) UTSA.

The defending C-USA Champion improved to 25-2 overall on the year after a third win against the Miners this year. Rice defeated UTEP (13-15) twice in the regular season, including a sweep in the slate's finale. The Miners made their first trip to the conference tournament since 2016, their seventh seed being the highest earned in seven years. First-year head coach Ben Wallis boasts the most successful turnaround in program history, improving the Miners' win total by eight matches.

Junior Nicole Lennon turned in the match's only double-double on 21 kills and 18 digs to pair with a team-best three aces, two block attempts and a .378 hitting percentage. Reigning Tournament MVP sophomore Anota Adekunle gathered up 14 kills at a .478 clip. Senior Grace Morgan was a force at the net with eight blocks. Three Miners reached double-figure kills with freshman Alianza Darley's 12 leading the team. Junior Syenna Masaki amassed 16 digs.

Rice claimed the first set 25-18. The tournament host capitalized on a few early offensive errors, but UTEP found its footing with four Miners landing kills to help tie the set at seven-all. The teams were later deadlocked again at 13 before the Owls hung five-straight points to race ahead 21-14. Adekunle posted the final point with her third kill of the night.

UTEP trailed by two in the second frame until a 10-1 run stunned Rice and put the Miners in the driver's seat, 18-11. During that run, sophomore Kristen Fritsche placed a pair of service aces and junior Mallory Yost muscled a kill and two blocks. UTEP padded its lead as much as eight points before the Owls tried their hand at a comeback. A Miner attack error cut the deficit in half before UTEP called a timeout. Lennon struck a kill and service ace back-to-back to bring Rice within two, 23-21, but two more Miner kills would shut the door 25-21.

The Owls gained control of the match 2-1 in the third set with a 25-18 victory. Rice's offense hit at a collective .400 clip on 17 kills and crafted an early five-point lead to set a rhythm. The Owls would hold the advantage the remainder of the frame and lock it up with Lennon downing three of Rice's final four kills. There was little room for error in the fourth with a tight set mounted from the jump. A solo block by Yost kept it a one-point affair until Rice could build a 15-11 lead on three kills and a UTEP service error. Rice won the race to the 20-point plateau and never looked back to win the final frame 25-18.

Quarterfinal Match #2: (5) Florida Atlantic 3, (4) Marshall 0

Box Score

After a five-set loss to Marshall in the regular season, Florida Atlantic had the final word with a sweep in the C-USA Championship Quarterfinals on Friday. The fifth-seeded Owls upended (4) Marshall and will face No. 19 WKU in the 12 p.m. CT semifinal on Saturday. The win marked Florida Atlantic's first conference tourament victory since 2005.

Florida Atlantic (16-10), one of the league's most efficient offenses, prevailed over a Marshall (18-10) defense that owns the 12^th-best blocks per set mark in the country. The Owls avenged a loss in last year's first round, while the Thundering Herd appeared in the postseason after missing the cut in 2018. Despite the loss, Marshall made the trip to Houston as the predicted 10^th place team in the C-USA Preseason Poll.

Three Owls put up double-digit kills with junior Sydney Nemtuda registering a double-double on 12 kills and 16 digs. Senior Cailea Gibbs turned in a match-high five blocks. Redshirt junior Ciara Debell impacted Marshall on both sides of the ball with eight kills, six digs and four blocks.

Florida Atlantic manufactured a 9-2 lead to start the day capped by a pair of blocks from Gibbs, one being assisted by Massiel Matos. The Owls maintained the advantage the rest of the way, the Thundering Herd only inching as close as six points, as Florida Atlantic won the first set 25-15.

A combo block from Debell and Destiny Leon gave Marshall some momentum and a small lead early in the second set. That lead grew to five, 15-10 midway before Florida Atlantic strung together four-straight points to cut the deficit to one. A challenge from the Owls proved to be successful as the call was reversed to push the team to set-point. A final kill from Matos handed Florida Atlantic the set 25-23.

The teams found themselves knotted up at 12 in the last set before the Owls could muster another offensive outburst. Back-to-back kills forced Marshall into a timeout trailing by four. The Thundering Herd grabbed the first two points out of that break, both on errors, but a 6-1 run from Florida Atlantic would close out the set 25-17.

Quarterfinal Match #1: (1) No. 19 WKU 3, (8) Middle Tennessee 0

Box Score

Top-seeded No. 19 WKU made quick work of (8) Middle Tennessee with a sweep to open Friday's quarterfinal round. The Lady Toppers advance to the semifinals to face the winner of (4) Marshall and (5) Florida Atlantic at 12 p.m. CT Saturday.

WKU improves to 29-1 on the season and continues to lead the nation in wins and sweeps. The Blue Raiders' (13-17) season comes to a close with their first C-USA Championship appearance since 2013.

The Lady Toppers hit a season-best .486 with double-digit kill performances coming from C-USA Player of the Year sophomore Lauren Matthews (10) and C-USA Freshman of the Year Paige Briggs (14). Middle Tennessee freshman Bri Tankesley posted six digs and sophomore Samira Lawson-Body led with seven kills.

WKU raced out to a 5-0 lead in the first set and never looked back. The Topper offense powered a scorching .556 hitting percentage, Matthews led with six kills and Briggs swung five of her own on six attempts as WKU claimed the frame 25-14. The same result came in the second set as the Blue Raiders were held to a sub-.100 hitting clip. WKU would craft a late 8-1 run firing offensively on all cylinders to take a 2-0 lead into the break.

Middle Tennessee wouldn't go down without a fight in the final round and found itself leading 9-7 with the help of three kills from senior Taylor Hammill. The Lady Toppers regained control from there and rattled off eight-straight points to create distance. A pair of Raider offensive errors would seal the set 25-15.