Autumn Walter | URI looks to blook Holy Cross’ return.
After opening the season with four losses, the University of Rhode Island’s Women’s Volleyball rebounded nicely, winning four straight matches before dropping the finale in the Art Carmichael Invitation to Yale last Saturday.
The first serve of the season was Friday, Aug. 24 in the Hilton Penn’s Landing Temple Invitational at Temple University. Rhody played two matches that Friday, losing to both Loyola Marymount and Temple. They suited up against Hofstra University the following day, getting swept three sets to none.
The girls moved on, however, and opened up another tournament the following weekend. They played three matches in The Holy Cross Invitational, losing the opener to Drake College, and then beating Columbia to play Holy Cross in the finale. The Rams lost the first two sets against Columbia before winning three in a row and the match.
The Holy Cross game started similarly, with the Rams falling short in the first two sets. They eventually played a deciding fifth set, in which Rhody won 15-9 and took the match from the hosts. Both Mariah Paulette and Natale Zanellato were named to the All-Tournament team, as they combined for 25 kills in the finale.
Rhody hosted the Art Carmichael Invitational this past weekend and continued their winning ways from the previous tournament. They started hot, sweeping Army West Point with a 3-0 victory and beating New Hampshire by a score of 3-1 on Friday.
They met their match on Saturday, going up against a Yale team with only one loss on their record. The Bulldogs swept Rhode Island, and the offense never got any momentum behind them. Yale recorded 68 digs and 11 blocks in just three sets.
Although they dropped their last game and their win streak, there was a silver lining for the Rams at the end of the tournament. Senior setter Lauren Pick was named co-MVP with Yale’s Kathryn Attar, and sophomore Claire Chaplinsky was named to the All-Tournament Team along with Pick.
Looking ahead, the Rams will look to bounce back to .500 this Friday when they play Binghamton at the Sacred Heart Invitational. Rhode Island will play three games at Sacred Heart, suiting up against NJIT and the hosting Pioneers as well.