Rice Lady Raiders volleyball

Hello, everyone and welcome back to The Huddle where today we are talking about Rice Lady Raiders.

The Lady Raiders had another season where their record was below expectations as they went winless in district play.

I probably sound like a broken record to Lady Raider fans at this point, but I truly believe that despite the struggles this season, I think this program is close to turning a corner. Teir record is their record so let’s just get it out the way, they had an 8-24 overall record and a 0-14 record in district.

Now, this is the product of the team taking a couple games off in district play. A lot of these losses came down to what’s between the ears for the Lady Raiders.

I have seen this a couple times with the Lady Raiders across multiple sports too. It’s as though they are telling themselves mentally that they already lost the game so nothing really matters.

That has to be one of the first things they address this off-season because while they were a young team this season, they had plenty of talent to not get smacked 25-6 in some sets. Six points in a set is just unacceptable, and there has to be more pride than that when on the court.

Head Coach Morgan Hunter talked a good bit this year about conversations she had with her team about being proud and prideful to wear the Lady Raider uniform. I imagine those conversations will continue and slowly but surely, we will start to see a new Lady Raiders team next season.

I also think Hunter has the right attitude for the job. She’s energetic, absolutely loves the game of volleyball and is very firm but fair to her team. She also preaches the right things to her players, like finishing points, being a good teammate, being coachable and how to communicate on the floors.

The Lady Raiders will flush the results from this season down the drain and look ahead to the 2026 season as they look to reach double digit wins next year.