Rhode Island Starters (3-15, 0-6 Atlantic 10)
Disu, Owens, Shilling, Passerello, Blahut, Bowman, Blaney (L)

Davidson Starters (11-5, 3-3 Atlantic 10)
Nguyen, Slusser, Decker, Omonije, Davis, Garcia-Guerrios, Brady  (L)

How It Happened
A highly-entertaining and competitive opening set gave way to a one-sided contest as Rhode Island fell to Davidson in three sets, 27-25, 25-16, 25-12 Saturday afternoon. The visiting Wildcats hit .371 as a team, using a smooth and balanced attack to pull away in the final two sets.

Set One - Davidson 27, Rhode Island 25
Both sides played outstanding offensive volleyball in the opening set, as Davidson hit .500 as a team and Rhode Island was right behind at .400. With 11 ties, the score was close throughout, though URI appeared on the verge of taking the opener when an Emma Vente kill gave Rhody three set points at 24-21. However, Davidson used a Rhode Island service error and three straight kills to claim the lead at 25-24. Rhody fended off the first set point with a Gabrielle Shilling kill, but a block from Jessie Doyal and Sola Omonije followed by an Omonije ace gave the Wildcats the set.

Set Two – Davidson 25, Rhode Island 16
Play was even through the opening 20 points, with each side scoring 10 points. Davidson used a 5-1 spurt to open the first sizeable lead of the frame, but the Rams were able to close the gap to 18-16 on a block by Samantha Blahut and Aerin Bowman. However, Davidson ran off the final seven points to take a commanding two-set lead.

Set Three – Davidson 25, Rhode Island 12
Davidson opened the set with a 12-2 lead and Rhode Island never got closer than seven points away. Isabel Decker, Anna Withee and Emma Slusser combined for 13 kills and just three errors as the Wildcat attack was relentless until the match ended.

Inside the Box Score

• Davidson had three players in double digits as Isabel Decker (16), Anna Withee (12) and Emma Slusser (11) combined for 39 kills.
• Graduate student Gabrielle Shilling led Rhode Island with eight kills with no errors for a strong .500 attack percentage.
• Redshirt sophomore Emma Vente added six kills with just one error in 15 attacks.
• Sophomore Hope Passerell had 23 assists, seven digs and three kills.
• Junior Hannah Blaney had a team-high 11 digs.

Up Next
Rhode Island and Davidson are back at it Sunday at noon in Keaney Gymnasium.