Rams fall to Dayton in back-to-back games
Claire Wagner finished the season with 197 kills for the Rams. PHOTO CREDIT: gorhody.com
The University of Rhode Island’s Women’s Volleyball team traveled to Ohio to conclude their season over the weekend, dropping their final set of matches to the University of Dayton in straight sets.
The Rams, led by Brynne Wright, were unable to take a single set against the third-place Flyers. Wright led all players with 13 kills on Friday, and said that the Rams were capable of a better performance over the weekend.
“I think it’s tough, because when we play a team like Dayton, we know they are a really good team with a lot of talent, but I really think we are too,” Wright said. “I think we had the opportunity to beat them, we just weren’t able to perform to our best each day.”
The Flyers came out strong in Friday’s match, not allowing Rhode Island a single lead in the first set and winning 25-17. Wright led all players in the first set with five kills, and Rhode Island’s best hitting percentage of the night (0.097) came in the first set despite the loss.
Dayton capitalized on their momentum in the second set, which saw the score tied eight times. An early 6-0 run saw Rhody take a 10-8 lead, but a late 7-2 advantage for Dayton saw the Flyers pull away with the score tied at 18, taking the second set, 25-20.
Dayton closed out match one in dominant fashion, with a 0.455 hitting percentage in the third set. Dayton jumped into a 7-point lead early on, before eventually gaining a 21-10 advantage over the Rams late in the set. In a run off 11 kills in 22 attacks with just one error, Rhode Island’s defense could not answer the call as Dayton took the third set 25-13.
The first match saw Rhode Island hit 27 kills with an overall 0.21 hitting percentage, compared to Dayton’s 36 kills and 0.253 percentage.
Despite the result, URI Head Coach Angel Agu has confidence that her team is well-positioned to succeed going into next season.
“We’re well on the right path,” Agu said. “A lot of it comes from chemistry, we had some injuries, and new players seeing the court, or playing positions they hadn’t seen. [Our goal] will be continuing relationships, continuing to improve connections…that comes with time, and it was developing throughout the season.”
The two teams met once again on Saturday, and it was more of the same for the hosts.
The first set saw scoring runs from each team. An early 9-1 run would see the Flyers take the advantage, but Rhode Island would fight back to bring the deficit to one at 19-18. From there, a 6-1 run featuring two aces and four kills would see Dayton take the opening set 25-19.
It was a back-and-forth beginning to the second set, with URI graduate student Gabrielle Shilling’s ace the only point in the first 14 across both teams that was not won on an error. The second set saw the score tied twice, at seven and 11, before a 6-0 Dayton run eventually gave the Flyers a set point at 24-17. Despite taking back three set points, URI eventually dropped the second set 25-20.
Dayton closed out the final set in style with an .812 hitting percentage, hitting 13 kills in 16 swings with no errors. In similar fashion to Friday’s closing set, Rhode Island had no answers as the Flyers took the third 25-12, the biggest deficit across the two matches.
In similar fashion to Friday’s match, Dayton’s 38 kills and .333 hitting percentage topped Rhode Island, who put away their attacks 26 times with a .117 percentage.
Wright, who led the Rams in both matches with kills, finished Saturday’s match with a team-leading eight kills and four digs. Despite many results not going URI’s way this season, she looked back on the growth of the team with great pride, and shared her coach’s confidence going into next season.
“I think we have a really good opportunity [next season] to come in really strong, especially after such a developmental year,” Wright said. “Even though we didn’t see even close to the outcome that we wanted for this season, I think the growth from start to finish was amazing.”
With the playoffs out of the picture, the focus for URI shifts to the offseason, in what will be a busy time for coach Agu and her team as they look to gear up for the 2023 season.