How It Happened
Rhode Island (1-0) opened its season by dominating Loyola Chicago in the opening match of the Delaware Invitational. Rhody swept the match 3-0 (25-7, 25-20, 25-18).

The Rams scored the first nine points of the match and coasted to a 25-7 set win. Rhode Island hit .500 as a team in the first set, converting 20 attacks into 10 kills without any errors. Junior Franki Darnold had six kills in 10 attacks to lead the offense early on.

Rhode Island never trailed in either of the first two sets. In the third set, Loyola Chicago held a brief lead at 6-5, but the Rams scored the next three points and never gave up the lead again.
 
Inside the Box Score

• Junior Franki Darnold picked up where she left off last season, leading the Rams with 13 kills. Darnold added eight digs and a pair of blocks. 
• Junior Cate Seman had a .462 hitting percentage, converting six of her 13 attacks without committing an error. Seman also had six digs, three blocks and one assist.
• Senior Caroline Casey had six blocks and three kills in the middle. Casey moved into a tie with Christa Rosa (1991-94) for 19th in program history with 184 career blocks.
• Senior Catie Steffen had seven kills, two digs and one service ace.
• Sophomore setter Callan Kinnan had 20 assists, five digs and two service aces. With Kinnan's passing, the Rams did not commit an attack error until the 46th point of the match. The team converted 35.7 percent of Kinnan's passes into kills.
• Freshman Marie Gillcrist made her collegiate debut, appearing in the final set.
• Rhode Island converted 63 percent of its sideout chances (29-of-46), including a near-perfect 6-for-7 in the opening set.

Stat of the Day 
0 – Rhode Island did not commit any errors in 20 total attacks in the opening set of the season.

What's Next
Rhode Island plays a pair of matches to close out the tournament Saturday, battling Albany at 11 a.m. before taking on host Delaware at 7 p.m.