Oct. 17, 2001

KINGSTON, R.I. - Sophomore outside hitter Amy Kauppila struck for 15 kills and led all players with a career-high 23 digs Wednesday night as No. 3 Rhode Island turned back No. 9 Connecticut 3-1 in a non-conference clash of regionally ranked volleyball teams at URI.

The Rams (11-7) avenged last year's 3-0 loss to UConn (13-5) with a 30-27, 30-26, 24-30, 30-24 victory, their eight straight and their 11th in 12 matches since opening the season 0-6. They've played seven opponents who swept them 3-0 last season and beaten all but one (Temple).

The Rams, who share the Atlantic 10 Conference lead with Dayton, vaulted to No. 3 in the NCAA's Northeast regional rankings on Oct. 3 and held their ground in the latest poll, released Wednesday just minutes before they took the court. UConn held on to its No. 9 spot.

Kauppila shattered her previous best by six digs and turned in a team-high .353 hitting percentage (15-3-34), the second highest of her college career. She had help from freshman outside hitter Brooke Ecklund, who equaled her career best with a team-high 19 kills. Meanwhile senior middle blocker Yolanda Bogacz put up a double double with 11 kills and 10 digs.

UConn junior Melissa Wooley matched Ecklund with 19 kills and led the Huskies with 17 digs. Sophomore Raftyn Birath had 16 kills for UConn and led all players with a .519 hitting line (16-2-27).

Rhode Island rallied from deficits of 8-2 and 19-15 to win a seesaw first game that saw eight ties and six lead changes. The Rams slammed down three straight kills to take command at 28-25, their largest lead of the game.

By contrast, the Rams dominated the second game, getting five straight points from Ecklund and blowing open a 16-6 lead. UConn came back to close the gap to 21-18, but the Huskies got closer than that for only a brief moment, at 27-25.

UConn bounced back to dominate the third game, opening up a 17-9 bulge and never letting the Rams get within four. In the fourth game it held a slim lead most of the way before the Rams mounted a 7-1 run and opened up a 26-21 advantage.

Connecticut (13-5) 27 26 30 24 -- 1
Rhode Island (11-7) 30 30 24 30 -- 3