Tiffany Rice O’Dell’s ability to finish rallies gave The College of Wooster volleyball team an edge in most matches, and her arsenal enabled the program to enjoy a level of success in the mid-2000s that it had not seen since the 1980s.
The Canton, Ohio, native made the short trip to Wooster, thanks to being inspired by head coach Terri Gilmore Mason, and her future Fighting Scot teammates when she visited campus. The chemistry was a perfect match, as Rice fit right in with her new teammates and paired 404 kills with a .317 attack percentage in 2002, a season in which Wooster went 20-16 for its first 20-win campaign since 1984.
A strong attacking core, with the likes of Erin Donnell as a first-year, Erin Schaffner as a sophomore, junior, and senior, and Carolyn Ciriegio as a junior and senior provided plenty of balance, and their talent enabled Rice to shine even more. She averaged 3.62 kills per set while hitting .327 as a sophomore, en route to earning the first of three All-North Coast Athletic Conference certificates. An elevation to all-conference first-team and a second 20-win season followed as a junior, a year in which Rice upped her game to a .344 attack percentage, 4.33 kills per set, and 450 total kills. Rice’s milestone-filled junior year included leading the NCAC in kills and kills per set, accumulating the second-highest kill total in single-season history, recording her 1,000th career kill, and ending the year second in program history with 1,209 career kills.
Rice saved her best for last, as she authored one of the greatest individual seasons in program history as a senior. She racked up a school-record 541 kills, a scoring-era NCAC record 4.75 kills per set, and tied her career-high with a .344 attack percentage. Rice posted double-figure kill totals in all but two matches as a senior, including a career-high 32 against Ohio Athletic Conference runner-up Baldwin Wallace University.
For her career, Rice accumulated a school-record 1,750 kills, and she is the only Scot to post three 400-kill seasons. Her lifetime .334 attack percentage sits atop the program leaderboard and no Scot before or after Rice has finished a career with at least a .300 attack percentage on a minimum of 1,000 attempts. Rice still maintains top spots on the program leaderboard in attack attempts (4,187), and she is second all-time with 451 sets played.
“Tiffany practiced and played with determination and passion,” summed up Mason, Wooster’s coach at the time. “Tiffany loved and valued the sport of volleyball and challenged herself to be her best. She possessed a lust for learning the tactics of the sport, seeking to discipline both her mind and her body to perform at the highest level through hard work, sacrifice, and setting and reaching goals.”
The sociology alumna, who earned her teaching licensure, currently oversees accounts payable, accounts receivable, and payroll for Ventrone Excavating. She still promotes the love of learning volleyball as a high school junior varsity coach and a parks and recreation league competitor.
Personally, Rice, and her husband, James O’Dell, reside in Canton with children, Isa and Eli.