Rhode Island Starters (3-10, 0-1 A-10)
Powers, Disu, Ma., Passarello, Abuto, Blahut, Bowan, Blaney (L)

George Mason Starters (5-8, 1-0 A-10)
Rodriguez, Colter, Gelfound, Bova-Ford, Gacek, Larkin, Halley (L)

How it Happened
Rhode Island dropped a four-set match to George Mason in its Atlantic 10 conference opener on Friday evening, falling 3-1 in Keaney Gymnasium. The Rams did a good job of responding after the Patriots secured the first two sets of the night by stealing the third, but were unable to prevent the visitors from taking the win. 

Set One - George Mason 25, Rhode Island 13
A string of eight unanswered points through the middle of the action allowed the Patriots to claim the first set of the evening. Rhode Island struggled to find its rhythm in the opener, hitting -.045 with five kills off of 22 attempts. 

Set Two - George Mason 25, Rhode Island 23
Rhody's play was much more competitive in the second frame of the night, keeping George Mason within striking distance the whole way. Both teams fought to gain a significant lead until the Rams went up by three at 17-14 off of a service ace by Madi Disu and forced the Patriots to call a timeout. The visitors crawled their way back after the reset and eventually regained the advantage at 19-18. A trio of kills from Disu in the final moments kept Rhode Island in contention, but George Mason successfully held the team off for another win. 

Set Three - Rhode Island 25, George Mason 22
The teams remained within three points of one another for the entirety of the third set, until Rhode Island came back with a win of its own to prolong the evening. After entering the final stretch tied at 20-20, momentum started to shift towards URI when a Gabrielle Shilling kill was followed by a block off the hands of Aerin Bowman and Samantha Blahut. Facing a 23-21 deficit, George Mason called time out. Another block by the Rams put them at match point right out of the break, which a Patriot attack error then allowed Rhody to reach. 

Set Four - George Mason 25, Rhode Island 10
George Mason controlled play in the final set of the evening, building an initial lead of 10-4 and never looking back. Rhody called a pair of early time outs to try and stop the bleed, but the Patriots kept their foot on the gas and worked their way to match victory. 

Inside the Box Score

• Freshman Madi Disu collected a team-high 12 kills, marking the third-straight outing she has reached double digits in the category. 
• Disu also had three service aces.
• Redshirt junior Samantha Blahut contributed one solo block and six block assists to lead the defense.
• Junior Hannah Blaney tallied 14 digs and a trio of assists. 
• Redshirt sophomore Hope Passrello handled the setting duties for the Rams, finishing her night with 22 assists, six blocks and a service ace.
• The Rams hit .088 as a team and notched 32 kills. 
• After hitting .367 in the opening set, George Mason did not hit above .250 for the remainder of the night and finished with a percentage of .218. 

What's Next
The teams will finish out the weekend competition with a 12 p.m. match on Saturday, Sept. 23 in Keaney Gymnasium.