How It Happened
Rhode Island (20-8) advanced to the semifinals of the Atlantic 10 Championship, beating Duquesne in five sets Friday.

Rhody – the No. 3 seed in the championship – jumped out to a hot start, winning the first set 25-20 thanks in part to five kills each by Franki Darnold and Audrey Castro. With the score tied at 7-7, the Rams began to pull away, scoring the next three points and never looking back. Layne Self eventually hammered down the set-winning kill to finish the 25-20 victory.

Similar to the first set, the Rams and sixth-seeded Dukes (14-15) were knotted up at seven apiece in the second before back-to-back kills by Cate Seman capped an 8-2 Rhody push that gave the Rams the lead for good. The Rams led by three or more the rest of the way, claiming the 25-18 victory on Self's fourth kill of the night.

The third set was all Duquesne from the start as the Dukes raced out to a 4-1 lead and eventually stretched it to 16-7. The Rams were unable to get any closer than six points the rest of the way as Duquesne cruised to a 25-14 win.

The Dukes rode the momentum into the fourth set, never trailing and winning 25-12 to even the match at 2-2.

The fifth set was a back-and-forth battle with neither team leading by more than one until a block by Castro and Marie Gillcrist put the Rams up 7-5. Rhody stretched it to 9-6, but the Dukes scored five of the next seven points to pull within one at 12-11. Kills from Seman and Castro gave the Rams breathing room before Jessie Blaze ended the match with an ace to send Rhode Island to the semifinals.

Inside the Box Score

• Junior Callan Kinnan had 45 assists, eight digs and four kills.
• Kinnan also recorded one ace on the night, giving her 101 for her career. She is the first Ram in five years to register more than 100 for her career. Kalyn Klaess was the last to do so, collecting 101 from 2007-10.
• Senior Cate Seman recorded her second double-double in the last week, finishing with 12 kills and 11 digs to go with four assists. She also had a double-double last Friday against Davidson.
• Sophomore Marie Gillcrist finished the night with four blocks, giving her 119 on the season, the 10th most in one year in program history. With one solo, she moved into Rhode Island's top-20, matching Kayla Newberg, who had 31 from 2007-10.
• Junior Audrey Castro and senior Franki Darnold both had double-doubles. Castro had a match-high 18 kills with 10 digs, while Darnold had 14 kills and 10 digs.

Stat of the Game
16 – The victory was Rhode Island's first at the Atlantic 10 Championship in 16 seasons, dating back to a sweep of Xavier during the 1999 tournament.

What's Next
The Rams return to action tomorrow night when they face No. 2 Saint Louis in the A-10 semifinals. Match time is set for 7:30 p.m.