How It Happened

Rhode Island went undefeated in the Art Carmichael Invitational, posting a 3-1 victory over Sacred Heart in Saturday's tournament finale. URI finished 3-0, while Lehigh was 2-1.  Sacred Heart (1-2) and Canisius (0-3) rounded out the field.

The Rams (6-3) took the first set, 25-20, thanks to an error-free attack. Rhody registered 19 kills on 33 attacks, good for a .576 hitting percentage. Layne Self had five kills while Audrey Castro added four, including three straight late in the set.

Rhody took the second set 25-22, again posting a solid hitting percentage of .333 thanks to 13 kills with just three errors on 30 attempts. The Rams led by seven points (15-8) midway through the set before the Pioneers made a push, cutting it to two (22-20). Kills from Rachel Lynne Cox, Castro and Cate Seman closed out the set for Rhode Island.

Sacred Heart took the third set, 30-28, thanks to a late scoring surge. URI led 23-20 before two straight errors and a service ace made it 23-23.  Self posted five kills while Franki Darnold added three in the set.

URI sealed the match victory with a 25-17 fourth set. The Rams recorded 15 kills to just two errors, while hitting .448. Castro and Darnold each had three kills.  

Inside the Box Score

• Franki Darnold moved into seventh place all-time in URI history thanks to her 11 kills on the afternoon. The senior now has 1,059 kills. She also added 10 digs for her third consecutive - and fourth overall - double-double of the season.
• For her efforts, Darnold was named MVP of the Art Carmichael Invitational. She posted 48 kills through the three matches (12 sets) - an average of 4.0 kills/set.
• Callan Kinnan assisted on 49 of the Rams' 66 kills. She added six kills, nine digs and three blocks. She was also named to the All-Tournament team.
• So far this season, Kinnan has 76.3% of the team's assists and has assisted on 70.1% of the team's kills through nine matches in 2015.
• Cate Seman had nine kills, three digs and three blocks en route to being named to the All-Tournament team. Over the last two matches vs. Lehigh, Seman hit .545 and averaged 2.0 kills, 1.7 digs, and 0.8 blocks per set.
• Layne Self led three Rams with 15 kills. The junior middle blocker hit a scorching .565, committing just two errors on 23 swings. She added two blocks.
• For the tournament, Self hit .438 posting 35 kills to just seven errors on 64 total attacks.
• Audrey Castro added 14 kills, nine digs, and three blocks. Castro also hit well from the floor (.364), with just two errors in 33 total attempts, while tallying a solo blocks.
• The junior from Long Beach, Calif. posted back-to-back matches with double digit kills. She had 10 in the win over Lehigh on Friday night.
• Lizzy Scanlon recorded 10 digs.  URI is 4-2 when Scanlon has at least 10 digs.

Stat of the Day 
12 – The Rams posted a season low in attack errors, with 12 vs. Sacred Heart.  The Rams played a clean first set, posting 19 kills with no attack errors on 33 swings. The zero errors is a single-set season-low, obviously. Rhody also registered just one attack error twice vs. Rice on Sept. 5. 

What's Next 
Rhode Island heads to Stony Brook, N.Y. for the Seawolves Invitational from Sept. 18-19. The Rams will play Stony Brook, Army, and Columbia before beginning Atlantic 10 play versus VCU on Sept. 25.