Sept. 21, 2001

PHILADELPHIA, PA. - Sophomore outside hitter Liu Shu struck for a match-high 13 kills with only one error Friday night as Temple won its sixth straight by blanking visiting Rhode Island 3-0 in the Atlantic 10 Conference opener for both teams.

Temple (8-2) won the hard-fought first and third games by identical 30-27 margins and, in between, rolled to a 30-13 victory in the second. The loss was the first in two weeks for Rhode Island (3-7), ending the Rams' three-match win streak.

Liu rang up an outstanding .545 attack percentage (13-2-22), sophomore outside hitter Yamit Haba turned in a .333 attack line (10-2-24), and the two shared the lead in digs with a game-high 10.

Junior setter Juliana Valencia led Rhode Island with a .444 line (5-1-9) and led all players with two service aces. She shared the team lead in digs (9) with sophomore outside hitter Mary Kate Reardon.

The Rams will try to recoup tomorrow against conference for LaSalle, also in Philadelphia.

URI (3-7) -- 27 13 27 -- 0
Temple (8-2) -- 30 30 30 -- 3