How It Happened
Rhode Island won its fourth match in a row on Saturday night, besting George Mason 3-1 on the road. The win improves Rhody to 16-6 (6-3) while Mason drops to 8-15 (3-6).

The Rams captured the first four points of the first set and never relinquished the lead en route to a 25-20 victory. Mason quickly evened things up though, posting a convincing 25-14 win in the second set.

The Patriots traded points with the Rams throughout the beginning of the third set and led 10-8 after back-to-back attack errors for URI. Rhody went on to score 10 of the next 13 points however, moving ahead 18-13. Mason eventually evened it up at 20-20 but was unable to close things out, despite having set point opportunities at 24-23, 26-25 and 27-26. A service error then tied the score at 27-27 before consecutive kills by Callan Kinnan and Franki Darnold gave Rhody the 29-27 victory as well as a 2-1 lead in the match.

The fourth and final set was just as close. With the score tied at 16-16, neither team led by more than one until an Audrey Castro kill gave Rhody set point at 24-22. On the next play, a bad set by Mason's Caitlin Hipsher resulted in the Rhode Island victory. 

Inside the Box Score

• Overall, the match featured 33 ties and 14 lead changes.
• Rhode Island held a 61-50 advantage in digs, but had a .216 hitting percentage compared to Mason's .245.
• Senior Cate Seman recorded a match-high 16 digs to go along with six kills, four blocks and two assists.
• Senior Franki Darnold had the lone double-double of the match, finishing with 13 kills and 10 digs. She also added three service aces.
• Junior Audrey Castro posted a match-best 16 kills to go along with eight digs and a pair of aces.
• Junior Callan Kinnan had 44 assists, eight digs, six kills, two blocks and a service ace.
• Junior Layne Self registered 12 kills on 20 swings for a .450 percentage. She also had three blocks for the Rams
• Sophomore Marie Gillcrist led all players with five total blocks, including one solo. 
• Freshman Olivia Budinich had 14 digs and three assists.

What's Next
The Rams return to Kingston for their final home games of the season. Rhody will host first-place Dayton on Friday and second-place Saint Louis on Saturday.