Rhode Island Starters
Wagner, Wright, Shilling, Hammond, Britton, Smith, Britton, Ratzloff (libero)
 
Hartford Starters
Galligan, Helms, Diede, Lindsay, Luginbuhl, De Gasper, Lucero (libero)
 
Set One – Rhode Island 25, Hartford 15 
Rhode Island used a balanced attack and a strong service game to control tempo in the opening set. After Hartford opened the match scoring three of the first four points, Rhody steadily took over. Five different players had at least two kills, as Gabrielle Shilling and Brittany Myers led the way with three each. Brynne Wright, Tori Britton and Jamie Smith each added two for the Rams. Rhody also had five service aces to keep Hartford back on its heels.

Set Two – Rhode Island 25, Hartford 18
The momentum continued into the second set, as URI scored the first three points of the set and never rescinded the lead. Gabrielle Shilling and Brynne Wright combined for seven of URI's 12 kills in the set. Hartford managed just 18 points in the set despite no blocks by Rhode Island.
 
Set Three – Hartford 25, Rhode Island 21  
The final set was more competitive than the opening two. Hartford managed a lead late in the set, when a Camryn Luginbuhl kill put the Hawks ahead 20-19 and forced the Rams to call a timeout. It was the first time Hartford led in any set since a 3-2 advantage in the first set. An ace by Valerie Diede made it a two-point lead. Gabrielle Shilling and Brynne Wright sandwiched kills around a Rhody service error to get the Rams with one at 22-21, but Luginbuhl and Ijoma Uzezi recorded kills of their own, and Luginbuhl ended the set with an ace to extend the match.

Set Four –Rhode Island 25, Hartford 11  
Any thoughts of a fifth set were squelched early, as Rhode Island scored the first eight points of the frame. Five attack errors and one ball handling error in the opening eight points by Hartford made life easier for Rhode Island, which took full advantage.  By the time Gabrielle Shilling had three straight aces, the Ram lead was extended to 15-3 and the final result was never threatened.

Inside the Box Score

• Rhode Island won its second match in a row to improve to 4-6.
• Hartford fell to 2-6 overall.
• Rhody was successful on 71.0 Percent of its sideout opportunities, a key reason there were only nine ties and two lead changes in the entire match.
• Senior Gabrielle Shilling had seven service aces, tying the program's second-highest single-match total. She matched Catie Steffan's total from Sept. 20, 2014 at New Hampshire. The program record is 11 by Sue Scott against New Mexico in 1986.
• The Rams had 15 aces as a team and are up to 56 through 10 matches.
• When she wasn't serving up aces, Shilling was dominant on the attack, collecting 12 kills with just one attack error. Through two matches at the URI Alumni Weekend Invitational, she has 24 kills with three errors in 41 total attacks.
• Freshman Grace Hammond posted her second double-double of the weekend, passing out 37 assists to go with 12 digs. She also had two aces.
• Sophomore Brynne Wright had a career-high 12 kills. It was her first time reaching double digits
• Senior Ella Ratzloff finished with 15 digs and now has 1,106 for her career. She became the sixth player in program history to reach 1,100 career digs. Ratzloff also had three service aces.
• The only URI players with more are Jessica Salmans (1,378 from 1994-97), Kris Normandin (1,268 from 1992-95), Kengy Gardiner (1,184 from 1988-91), Peggy Doino (1,157 from 2005-08) and Kaleena Miller (1,134 from 2001-04).

Up Next
Rhode Island caps off the URI Alumni Weekend Invitational tonight against Merrimack. The match begins at 7 p.m.