The University of Rhode Island women’s volleyball team continued its quest to find its first Atlantic 10 Conference victory this past weekend against Virginia Commonwealth University, as the Rams went 0-2 and are now 3-16 on the season.
With URI hosting the No. 4 ranked team in the conference after starting the season 0-5 in conference play, Rhody was looking to make a turnaround and get in the win column.
On Saturday, the Rams got off to a quick start in the first set, getting an early 8-7 lead courtesy of second-year hitter Havyn Rolle. However, this momentum wouldn’t last long, as VCU would then go on a 9-3 run, which was enough to propel it to a 25-20 set one victory.
Once again in the second set, Rhode Island competed and held the lead all the way until 18-16, but VCU’s defense would fight back to score the last four points of the set to take a 25-21 set-two win. It was all VCU in the third, as it stayed consistent in the back half of the set to win it 25-18 and close out the match.
Moving into the second match on Sunday, VCU kept its momentum going from the day before, starting off set one with a 6-1 run courtesy of back-to-back aces from third-year middle blocker Nina Boledovicova to add to the seven total aces in the set. Dominance from the service line and efficient hitting from the middle propelled VCU to a 25-16 victory.
Set two was also a dominant performance from the service line, but this time it was from Rhode Island, as fourth-year defensive specialist Ryleigh Powers, third-year setter Ema Stermenska and fourth-year setter Kiera McCarles all had aces to prompt an early 10-7 lead. VCU rallied late in the set to tie it up at 21-21, but the Rams kept their foot on the gas and closed out the set with a kill from third-year outside hitter McKenna Melton to win 25-23.
Rhody kept the ball rolling in the third set as they were able to get a hold of a 22-19 lead late in the set, and a late VCU attack error gave them the edge to win 26-24. However, in the fourth set, VCU found their rhythm early, picking up 13 kills throughout the course of the set and holding the lead the entire time, winning 25-19.
Set five started strong for Rhode Island with an early 10-7 lead. However, the tables would turn. A service error from URI and a service ace late in the set from VCU were enough to flip the script to set up fourth-year opposite hitter Julia Rienks for the kill and a VCU 15-13 win in a five-set thriller.
“My heart was broken for our girls,” URI Head Coach Ryan Sullivan said. “I thought we performed really well and put ourselves in an opportunity to win, but the next step [is] we got to learn is how to finish.”
Despite the Rams’ struggles to find their first conference win this season, Sullivan said that the team is not giving up and is still motivated to snap the losing streak.
“Our team is not going to quit,” Sullivan said. “We feel like we are very close, and we just got to peak at the right time so we can get in the win column.”
After dropping to last place in the A-10, URI will look to find its first conference win of the season on the road in a series against Saint Louis University on Friday at 7 p.m. and Saturday at 1 p.m. Both games will stream on ESPN+.
