Rhode Island Starters (4-24, 1-15 Atlantic 10)
Ma. Disu, Owens, Shilling, Passerello, Abuto, Blahut, Bowman, Powers (L)
 
Dayton Starters (27-2, 16-0 Atlantic 10)
Almodovar, Arroyo, Miller, Moore, Russell, Yates, Kaminski (L)
 
How it Happened
No. 18 Dayton swept Rhode Island 25-16, 25-10, 25-19 Saturday afternoon in the home finale for URI.
 
Set One - Dayton 25, Rhode Island 16
Dayton scored 12 of the first 15 points of the match behind the combination of Lexie Almodovar and Taylor Russell, who combined for nine kills in the set. Rhody got three straight points – including a Samantha Blahut ace and a block from Gabrielle Shilling and Andrea Owens – but a 4-1 Dayton run widened the gap to nine points at 16-7. Rhody managed to get within five when a Madi Disu ace made it 19-14, but the Rams could not get any closer.
 
Set Two - Dayton 25, Rhode Island 10
Holding a 10-7 lead, Dayton used an 8-2 run to build its advantage to 18-9. After a Rhody point, the Flyers ran off the final seven points of the set to quickly take a 2-0 lead. Taylor Russell had seven kills with no errors in just 13 total swings to power the Flyer offense.
 
Set Three - Dayton 25, Rhode Island 19
Dayton again built a sizeable lead early, opening the set with a 10-3 run. Later, a 7-0 run gave the visitors a 20-6 lead before Rhode Island managed to string together some momentum. The Rams played their best ball of the day during an 11-4 run that included a pair of combo blocks from Gabrielle Shilling and Karlee Pinell and an ace from Ryleigh Powers. It was not enough, as Dayton closed out the match on a kill by Kaitlyn McNeel.
 
Inside the Box Score

• Freshman Madi Disu led Rhode Island with six kills.
• Graduate student Gabrielle Shilling had four block assists and now has 296 total blocks for her career. She ranks third in program history during the rally point era and 10th overall.
• Sophomore Ryleigh Powers had 11 digs.
• Dayton's Taylor Russell had 11 kills in just two sets.
• The Flyers had 11 service aces on the day.
• Dayton never trailed in any set. The Flyers extended their winning streak to 22 matches, which ties Nebraska for the longest active streak in the country. Nebraska plays at Rutgers Sunday.

What's Next
Rhode Island closes out the regular season with a pair of matches at Loyola Chicago next week. The teams play Friday, Nov. 10 and Saturday, Nov. 11. Both matches are scheduled to stream on ESPN+.