The University of Rhode Island women’s volleyball team continued their Atlantic 10 conference play this past weekend, taking on Loyola University Chicago, the team with the second best record in the conference.
Rhode Island lost both matches, the first in five sets and the second in a 3, dropping to 0-4 in the conference.
This was a big game for the Rams, with Loyola previously coming off of a win against Saint Louis. Rhode Island struggled to get anything going, especially on the defensive end.
“O ur defense needs to pick up some slack,” URI Head Coach Ryan Sullivan said. “That’s exactly what we talked about in the locker room. What ends up happening is one person tries to do something that’s not their job and it opens another hole.”
In the opening match on Friday, Loyola put up 16 kills with only four errors while Rhode Island only tallied a quarter of that with four kills, causing the Rams to drop the first set 25-14.
In the second set, the Rams fought back defensively with a block from second-year middle blocker Chloe Abuto, and rallied offensively with an ace by third-year setter Kiera McCarles to take a late 21-19 lead. They eventually took the set 25-22.
The third set was close, with five lead changes and 19 total ties. Both teams combined for a total 32 kills, however the Rams hitting percentage was lower at .226, causing Loyola to take the set 25-23.
With Loyola up 2-1, Rhode Island needed to clinch the fourth set to stay alive. Some late game kills by third-year opposite Aerin Bowman and minimal mistakes overall from the Rams helped Rhode Island take the set 25-23.
At the start of the fifth set, Bowman opened up the set with a kill to give Rhode Island the early lead, but it would be the last time the Rams would have the edge in the set. Loyola would go on a 9-1 run to take a lead in the back half of the set and would stay in control to close out Rhode Island, 15-8.
The final score of the match would be 3-2 with Loyola Chicago coming out on top in the first match of the weekend. Loyola would lead in kills, 73-49, digs 51-36, and assists 66-49. However, Rhode Island led 15-8 in blocks and 7-5 in aces to help keep the match close.
Saturday wasn’t much different for the Rams, with Loyola pulling out another win. The first set was a struggle for Rhode Island, with Loyola going on a 9-3 run to give them the early 20-6 lead. The Rams tried to fight back but would fall short to drop the set 25-12.
The second set was also led early by Loyola but this time the Rams kept it close by going on a 5-0 run of their own with offense from second-year outside hitter Megan Disu and first-year middle blocker Havyn Rolle. Both teams would go back and forth all set with 11 total ties throughout the set. Loyola would take the set 25-23 after a kill and a net violation against Rhode Island.
“I think our scrappiness took a turn, our attitude about not letting balls hit the floor kinda took a turn,” URI fourth-year Libero Edie Lamoreaux said. “So I think the biggest thing is that our attitude definitely flipped around and we just wanted it.”
In the third set, Loyola would go on a 4-0 run to put them up 16-11 that was too much for Rhode Island’s defense to handle, causing Rhode Island to drop the set 25-17.
“We all have to make sure that we’re doing our jobs and knowing what other people’s jobs are too so we don’t interrupt each other in that fact.” Lamoreaux said.
Although the Rams dropped back to back games to Loyola, the Rams knew what they needed to do in order to secure the bounce back win against Fordham.
In the first set, Rhode Island started strong on offense, coming out hitting .226 and great on defense with 5 blocks. The Rams were able to hold the lead the whole set with great play at the net from second-year outside hitter Madi Disu and third-year right side Aerin Bowman, taking the set 25-20.
The second set was never close with the Rams going on an early 6-1 run to begin the set and then another 6-0 run shortly after led by a couple aces from third-year setter Kiera McCarles. After a block by Bowman, Rhode Island was able to take the set 25-17.
The start of the third set was controlled by Rhode Island’s defense, with blocks from second-year outside hitter Sydney Houchens and second-year middle blocker Chloe Abuto to make it a 15-12 match. A 5-0 run lead by first-year middle blocker Havyn Rolle would stretch the Rams lead to 20-13 with Fordham never bouncing back and Rhode Island taking the set 25-20.
The University of Rhode Island women’s volleyball team will face Duquesne this Saturday at 7 p.m. and Sunday at 1 p.m. Sunday’s match is available to be streamed on ESPN+.