Posted: Oct 31, 2022

COUNTDOWN TO NJCAA VOLLEYBALL REGIONALS: Spotlight on Mallory Rice

Former Rockets DS now a Triceratops stopper

By RYAN BERNSTEIN

A key aspect to Cuyahoga Community College’s phenomenal volleyball comeback season in 2022-23 after a two-year layoff due to Covid-19 is the team’s excellent defense. And that starts on the court with Mallory Rice.

The team’s libero or defensive specialist (the player in the other colored jersey), Rice is frequently the focal point as she reacts to the opponent’s hits. She’s unafraid to end her digs flat on the ground if it leads to a good pass that sets up a spike for her front-line teammates.

Rice started playing volleyball in fifth grade at Streetsboro Middle School. In seventh grade, she decided to join the school team and play more competitively. She has loved it ever since.

After her middle school years, she continued playing at for the Rockets’ team at Streetsboro High School. Rice realized that volleyball was her calling and she chose to continue her game in college. On the court, she’s averaging 2.88 digs, 3 points, and .38 service aces per set for the Triceratops.

“Tri-C is a mix of everything that I wanted,” Rice says. “I wanted to stay close to home. I wanted to be on a competitive team. I didn’t want to travel far, and I get to stay home. We have a lot of workouts, but we’re not overdoing it.”

Like Rice, everyone on the Triceratops volleyball team is a newcomer to the program. That means there needed to be a significant investment of time in the players getting to know each other. That’s been a secret to the squad’s success, she adds.

“We all get along well because we have the same mindset of us wanting to study hard and compete athletically while we living at home,” she explains. “The schooling here is nice, and I just couldn’t ask for a better group of teammates.”

Tionne El-Amin, also a newcomer as Tri-C’s head volleyball coach, speaks highly of Rice.

“Mal is one of my top recruits and has lived up to my expectations for her,” El-Amin says. “She has a very high IQ, she’s dedicated and hard worker, which keeps her on top of her game and is helping to be one of the best defensive players on the team.”

For Rice, the sentiment towards her coaching staff is mutual.

“I think she’s terrific,” she says. “Coach T is a great person, a great player, and a great coach. She’s new and she’s working well with all of us. And we love her and Coach Shanyla (assistant) also.”

Cuyahoga Community College’s Triceratops have a record of 7-12 going into the National Junior College Athletic Association’s Region XII playoffs. Mallory Rice has great expectations for the team in the playoffs.

“I think we’ll do great. We’ve been building up to be a great team and we just haven’t gotten to that point just yet. But I think we’re going to leave it all out on the court, and I believe we can go far (in the tournament).”

What advice might Rice have for younger players going into volleyball?

“Just keep a level head, if you begin to think negatively, you’ll play worse,” she says. “Volleyball is a game where confidence and attitude will make a great difference in the outcome.”

Bernstein, a second-year student at Tri-C from Independence, is taking courses in news writing, social media, and sports reporting this semester.