Rhode Island Starters
Wagner, Wright, Shilling, Hammond, Britton, Smith, Britton, Ratzloff (libero)
 
Merrimack Starters
Leestma, Taylor, Kellog, Hladick, Zinser, Haase, Mattiucci (libero)
 
Set One – Rhode Island 25, Merrimack 12
The Rams set the tone early, opening the match on a 6-1 run which featured kills from Jamie Smith (1), Brynne Wright (1) and Gabrielle Shilling (2). Three straight points got Merrimack within two at 6-4, before the Rams used a 10-3 Rhody push to pull ahead 16-7. Merrimack was unable to close the gap, scoring just five more points the rest of the way – four of which came on URI errors.

Set Two – Rhode Island 25, Merrimack 16
The second set began in similar fashion, with Rhode Island opening a 10-3 lead. The Warriors were unable to score consecutive points until a kill by Brooke Leestma and an ace by Lauryn Mattiucci cut their deficit to 12-7. That was as close as the set got however, as Rhody cruised to the 25-16 win.

Set Three – Rhode Island 25, Merrimack 7
The final set featured the only tie of the match, when a Rhody attack error evened the score at 1-1. From there, the Rams went on a tear, scoring 10 consecutive points amid a 16-1 run. Rhode Island finished things off from there, outscoring Merrimack 8-5 down the stretch.

Inside the Box Score

• The Rams swept their way through the weekend to win the URI Alumni Weekend Invitational with a perfect 3-0 record.
• Senior Gabrielle Shilling was named the tournament's MVP. Sophomore Brynne Wright and freshman Grace Hammond joined her on the all-tournament team.
• Through Rhody's three tournament matches, Shilling racked up 29 kills on 48 attacks with just three errors for an impressive .542 hitting percentage. She also combined for nine service aces, 12 blocks and five digs.
• Wright led Rhody in kills during the tournament, with 30. Hammond had a team-best 89 assists and 10 aces to go with 25 digs, 10 blocks and four kills.
• Also on the all-tournament team were Rider's Tori Schrader and Morgan Romano, Hartford's Camryn Luginbuhl and Merrimack's Lauryn Mattiucci.
• Wright registered a match-high 10 kills against Merrimack.
• Playing in just two sets, senior Mariah Paulette was next with six kills. She also had a pair of blocks.
• Senior Ella Ratzloff had 13 digs and four assists for the Rams.
• Hammond (21) and junior Adel Gage (13) combined for 34 assists. Hammond added two service aces while Gage had one.
• Senior Gillian Klise led all players with four blocks. She also had three kills.
• Senior Tori Britton contributed five kills and three blocks.
• As a team, Rhode Island converted 78 percent (29-37) of its sideout opportunities.
• Rhody limited Merrimack to just 15 kills on the night, as well as a -.039 hitting percentage. On the other side of the net, the Rams combined for 40 kills and a .427 hitting percentage.
• Rhode Island also held a significant advantage in digs (37-18), blocks (6-2) and service aces (6-2).
• Merrimack never led in the match and the score was tied only once, at 1-1 in the third set.

Up Next
Rhode Island closes out the busy weekend tomorrow afternoon when it hosts Boston College at 4 p.m.