The Rams finished the weekend ranked third in the country after a record-breaking performance at the NCVF National Championships. PHOTO CREDIT: Sara Bernabucci
The last time the University of Rhode Island Men’s club volleyball team traveled to the National Collegiate Volleyball Federation (NCVF) Championships in 2022, they were halted in the Sweet 16 round.
One year later, they traveled to Kansas City, Mo. with a chance to reclaim their 2019 national title. After three days of competition, the Rams advanced into the semi-finals where they were halted 2-0 by the future National Champions, Loyola-Chicago.
Despite the defeat, the Rams finished the season ranked third in the country with a record-breaking performance. Rhode Island ended the tournament with a 7-2 record, which currently serves as the best run in program history at the Division 1-AA level.
Head coach Michael Holden had nothing but praise for his team’s performance against some of the best collegiate club volleyball teams in the country.
“It’s always disappointing when you don’t win the entire thing, but I know both the players and coaching staff are all extremely proud of how far we went,” Holden said. “Although it is bittersweet to lose to the eventual national champions, it is understandable. We went out there and gave it our all, that’s all you can ask for as a coach.”
Rhode Island put together one of their best performances all season, rallying through an intense schedule of pool play Thursday and Friday, while moving into the playoff rounds Saturday. Due to time constraints, each match would be best two-out-of-three with a third set to 15 for the rubber game, if needed.
The Rams opened Thursday’s matches off with an early 2-0 victory over DePaul University before suffering a loss against Navy in a tight three set battle; 17-25, 25-21, 13-15.
Despite the loss, the Rams rallied in their last match of the day with a quick 2-0 victory over San Francisco State to move to a 2-1 record on the day.
With one loss, the Rams moved into the Challenge Round, a round set to determine which teams advance into the Gold or Silver playoff brackets. In an early Friday morning matchup, Rhode Island faced Bowling Green State and successfully advanced into the Gold Championship Bracket with a clean 2-0 sweep.
With the top 36 teams in the country remaining, the Rams faced Illinois Chicago and took care of business with another 2-0 victory on the day. Third-year Jack Pincince put on the performance of his career with a triple-double, averaging 13.2 kills per set with a total of 16 digs, and 11 aces on the day.
His stand-out performance earned him a selection to the Nationals All-Tournament 1st- Team, a highly distinctive honor given to the top six players in the nation at the tournament.
When asked about the success, Pincince noted it was his love for the game in high-intensity tournaments such as this, that helped lead to his performance.
“I love the environment,” Pincince said. “I was trying to focus on technical aspects, but it’s so much fun to be out there competing. And I mean.. winning awards is always sweet too.”
In the final matchup of the day, the Rams went against longtime rivals George Washington. The two teams previously faced off in the 2019 National Championships before Rhode Island went on to win the national title.
History would repeat itself when the Rams defeated the Colonials for the third time in a row, earning their fourth 2-0 sweep of the tournament.
The Sweet 16 round of playoffs began early Saturday morning with the Rams against the University of Texas. After a quick 25-9, 25-19 victory, the Rams had advanced to the Elite Eight- a feat no team had ever reached at this level.
The Rams continued their hot streak with another quick 2-0 victory over the University of Washington; 25-21, 25-9. This win advanced the Rams into the Final Four semifinal matchup against Loyola-Chicago.
After an early 5-0 lead for the Rams in both sets, the Wolves were able to come back and knock Rhode Island out in two sets; 22-25, 23-25. Loyola would go on to defeat UC-Irvine 2-0 in the final to earn the coveted national title.
“The loss was definitely difficult,” fourth-year Chris Rivera said following the defeat. “When that ball dropped for the last point, there was this moment when I realized, wow that was my last point ever… But, there was also this feeling of joy almost, because I knew we had played with everything we could.”
Rivera is one of the two fourth-year players graduating from the Rams roster and as captain, has become an integral part of Rams squad. He finished the tournament averaging 9.3 kills per match with a 0.79 hitting percent, while also holding the defensive line with an average of eight digs per match.
Rhode Island finished the season with a 23-6 record, one of Coach Holden’s highest winning records in his 10 years with the program.
As the season comes to a close, Holden remains optimistic about the future as he plans to reload the roster for next year’s tournament.