How It Happened
Rhode Island (19-8, 9-5) jumped out to a 10-5 lead in the first set and remained on top the rest of the way. A block by Franki Darnold and Marie Gillcrist ended the set with Rhody on top 25-19, giving the Rams an early 1-0 lead in the match. 

The second set was a back-and-forth battle which saw its 12th tie at 19-19, but VCU closed things out with a 6-0 run to knot the score at one apiece.

It was all Rhody in the third set as the Rams led 17-8 after back-to-back service aces from Jessie Blaze. The two teams traded points the rest of the way but VCU was unable to close the gap by more than seven (23-16) as a kill by Cate Seman gave the Rams match point and Seman and Castro closed it out with a set-winning block.

Once again, VCU (14-6, 8-6) leveled the score, winning the fourth set by a score of 25-17 to force a decisive fifth. There, Rhode Island took over the lead for good at 4-3 and eventually finished on top 15-10.

Inside the Box Score

• Junior Audrey Castro matched her career-best with a match-high 23 kills. She also registered 13 digs - for her 10th double-double of the season - and added three assists, two blocks and an ace.
• Sophomore Marie Gillcrist finished with 11 kills - one shy of her career-best - and a team-high three block assists.
• Senior Franki Darnold was the third Ram to finish with double-digit kills, notching 14 on the afternoon.
• Junior Callan Kinnan turned in her 10th performance this season with 50+ assists, ending the match with 51. She also had five kills with zero attack errors, four digs, three aces and two blocks - including the lone solo of the match.
• As a team, VCU recorded 10 total blocks to URI's five, but the visiting Rams finished with 64 kills to the home team's 59.

Stat of the Game
600 - Head coach Bob Schneck picked up the 600th win of his career at VCU.  

What's Next
The Rams return to action next week at the 2015 Atlantic 10 Championship. Please visit atlantic10.com for tournament pairings later this evening.