Volleyball sweeps the UNH/Merrimack Tournament

Senior Libero, Ella Ratzloff, became the program’s all-time leader in digs this past weekend. Photo credit: gorhody.com

The University of Rhode Island Volleyball team put together another impressive weekend at the UNH/Merrimack Tournament, winning all three of their games to move to 8-7 this season. 

With these wins, the team has now aced six of their last seven matches.  

The Rams’ weekend began at Merrimack’s playhouse, Hammel Court. The two teams met six days prior at the URI Alumni Weekend Invitational where the Rams won 3-0. 

It was more of the same Friday night when the Rams swept Merrimack 3-0. Their defense was spectacular throughout the match with seniors Ella Ratzloff and Abby Fillion and junior Claire Wagner recording double digit digs. Graduate transfer Jamie Smith also had a match-high 11 kills and senior outside hitter Gabrielle Shilling followed closely behind with 10 kills, despite dealing with a shoulder injury during the match. 

“Offensively, I didn’t play as big of a role as the weekend prior.” Shilling said. “As a team, we did a great job of spreading out our offense. A lot of people stepped up.” 

An interesting part about this tournament was that the games were played at two separate venues just an hour apart. 

“It’s definitely been a grind,” Shilling said. “We played at Merrimack on Friday, then we had to get on a bus to New Hampshire. It’s a lot of travel.”

Moving to New Hampshire’s Lundholm Gymnasium on Saturday morning for the final leg of the tournament, URI swept Morgan State 3-0. Libero Ratzloff reached a career milestone during the match, surpassing the 1,000 digs mark. Only 10 women in program history have achieved this feat. Sophomore Brynne Wright was also a threat around the net, finishing with 10 kills. 

“[Wright is] really adapting to the stud mentality,” Rhode Island Volleyball Coach Angel Agu said. “She’s that one go-to player that you know when she’s getting the ball, she’s getting the kill. She did an incredible job.” 

The Rams finished the weekend with a 3-1 victory against New Hampshire. The offense was on fire throughout the match with Wagner recording 17 kills and two service aces and Smith finishing close behind her with 16 kills. Atlantic 10 Rookie of the Week Grace Hammond also had a career-high 44 assists. 

After their first dropped set of the tournament, Agu reminded the Rams to keep on playing and focus on one point at a time. 

“I was telling them that they have to be present in each point and focusing on your role and what you need to do, then the game will take care of itself.” Agu said. “It was after that point that they had a clear shift in their play and they did win 25-9 which was pretty cool.”

The team now looks to flip the page to conference play, where they will open up against Virginia Commonwealth University, the same team that ended their season five months ago. Agu’s main focus for Saturday is winning the serve and pass game, ball control and making positive plays. 

 Before the season started, Agu asked her players what they wanted their team to be known as. The Rams responded, “to be the team everyone wants to be a part of, but no one wants to play. That team that is always ready and always on the fight.” With every game meaning more, going forward, the Rams hope to show that mentality to the rest of the conference.