WICHITA, Kan. -- Wichita State took two of the first three sets but could not hold off a late charge from Rice as the Owls defeated the Shockers 23-25, 25-18, 25-22, 15-25, 10-15 on Sunday afternoon at Charles Koch Arena.

The Owls (9-4, 4-0) hit .417 and .550 over the last two sets, respectively, after the Shockers (8-8, 3-1) had held Rice below .200 in each of the first three frames. Samarah Hill finished with 18 kills and 15 digs to lead the Owls, while libero Gaby Mansfield piled up 31 digs for match-best honors.

The Shockers got 13 kills apiece from Alyssa Gonzales and Morgan Stout, while Emerson Wilford finished just shy of a double-double with 10 kills and nine digs.

In a precursor of things to come, the Owls were able to claim a tense, back-and-forth first set with a late flurry. Wichita State had rallied from a 20-17 deficit to tie the set at 23-23 on a Brooklyn Leggett kill, but Rice got consecutive kills of their own from Lademi Ogunlana and Lola Foord to take the opener, 25-23.

The Shockers fired back by controlling the second set, gradually extending the advantage to five at 14-9 and keeping the Owls at bay thanks to five kills on nine errorless swings from Leggett and four terminations from Gonzales. Rice never got closer than three points down the stretch, and a Wilford kill wrapped up a 25-18 win that evened the match at one set apiece.

It was Wichita State's turn to win a closely contested set in the third, breaking free of a 22-22 tie with a block from Leggett and Maddie Wilson, then scoring two more via a Wilford kill and Rice attack error to take 2-1 lead.

It was all Rice in the fourth set, however. The Owls blitzed WSU to the tune of a 21-9 cushion, though Wichita State did fight back to within eight at 22-14 to prompt a Rice timeout. The Owls recovered to score three of the next four points, forcing the fifth set.

The Shockers never led in the final frame, twice trimming the deficit to one in the middle stages (7-6 and 8-7) but unable to get over the hump. Hill powered the Owls across the finish line with four kills, as Rice racked up 13 team terminations in the fifth set alone.

Wichita State had five aces to three for Rice and out-blocked the Owls, 11-10, but Rice had 87 digs to Wichita State's 68.

The Shockers are back in action next Friday against South Florida. First serve is scheduled for 7:00 pm.