Over the weekend, the University of Rhode Island volleyball team traveled to Villanova University to compete in the Wildcat Challenge.
The Rams defeated Marist College 3-1 to open the tournament on Friday night. However, Villanova would take down URI the next day in three straight sets to earn a victory and win the tournament.
First-year Havyn Rolle had 13 kills versus Marist on Friday night along with five blocks and an ace. Rolle leads the team in kills with 121 and averages 2.37 kills per set. Third-year Aerin Bowman and second-year Chloe Abuto combined for 21 blocks on Friday. Bowman set her career high with 11 and Abuto tied hers with 10.
“Havyn is our engine, she’s the type of player that has experience beyond her years,” URI Head Coach Ryan Sullivan said. “She’s always available to the setter and offensively she can do so many things that open up other players on our team.”
After Rhody’s victory Friday night, they advanced to the Wildcat Challenge final where they faced off against Villanova, who advanced after their three-set sweep of Temple University on Friday night. The Wildcats came out strong in the first set winning it 25-12. URI would keep it more competitive in the second set, ultimately falling short by a score of 25-23. Rhode Island would continue to battle in set three but couldn’t get over the hump again, falling by a score 25-19, making Villanova the 2024 Wildcat Challenge champion.
“I worked with [Villanova Head Coach] Josh [Steinbach] About 10 years ago and he really hammered home serve receive, passing and defense and we found serving is our identity we usually put teams in troubled positions,” Sullivan said. “They handled our serve really well everytime we went on a run and their defense would make amazing plays. They taught us the resilencey we need to have to beat a team that good.”
The immediate impact Coach Sullivan has made in his first season in Kingston can already be felt. Following the Rams’ victory on Friday night over Marist, the team’s record improved to 5-6, already exceeding their win total from last season, which saw them finish 4-26.
“The biggest thing that’s written on our board is to expect to win and hate to lose,” Sullivan said. “We’ve had healthy competition in positions and also in competitive games in regards to the team’s turnaround. We’ve really wanted to push the competitive culture I think our team has really brought into that we compete every single day.”
Up next, URI will open up conference play on Friday when they take a trip to Dayton, Ohio for a two-match series. Dayton University are the defending Atlantic 10 champions and they went 32-3 last year, with a perfect 18-0 mark in conference play. The Flyers are currently 10-1 in 2024, and the Rams have lost 16 straight to Dayton, failing to win the matchup since Oct. 12, 2013.
However, Sullivan said he is confident going into the matchup, and he has faith in his team to come back home with a victory to snap the losing streak. The pair of matchups against the defending A-10 champions are set for 7 p.m. on Friday and 2 p.m. on Saturday, they are available to stream on ESPN+.