Rhode Island Starters
Ma. Disu, Me. Disu, Abuto, Rolle, Vente, Butler, Henry (L)

Marist Starters
A. White, Patton, J. White, Dasic, Bumstead, Woods, Potter-Pessoa (L)

How It Happened
Rhode Island advanced to the championship match of the Wildcat Challenge by defeating Marist 3-1 (25-18, 20-25, 25-21, 25-18) Friday night. The Rams (5-6) were spurred by a defensive effort that featured 16 blocks in just four sets.

Set One – Rhode Island 25, Marist 18
The duo of Aerin Bowman and Chloe Abuto combined on blocks on the first two points of the match, setting an early tone. Rhody led by as many as five points at three different times (8-3, 16-11 and 23-18) while never losing the lead at any point. Leading 23-18, a bad set by Marist followed by a Kiera McCarles service ace ended the opening set for the Rams.
 
Set Two – Marist 25, Rhode Island 20
Both sides found their rhythm on offense in the second set, but it was Marist (0-9) holding the lead throughout this time. The Red Foxes hit an impressive .500 as a team, recording 15 kills with just two attack errors in 26 total attempts. Even though Rhody had 13 kills with just four errors, the Rams were unable to slow Marist down as the Red Foxes evened the score.

Set Three – Rhode Island 25, Marist 21
Marist jumped out early, building an 8-2 lead after consecutive kills by Taylor Miller. Rhody slowly began to chip away from there, eventually tying the match at 15-15 when Madi Disu delivered a kill and a service ace on back-to-back points. After the teams traded several points, URI took an 18-17 lead following a Marist attack error, its first lead since the set began 1-0. A block by Megan Disu and Chloe Abuto made it a two-point lead, and Rhody held on from there, using a 6-3 run to close out the set, which was clinched by back-to-back Havyn Rolle kills.
 
Set Four – Rhode Island 25, Marist 18
Rhode Island opened the fourth set by taking an 11-5 lead, but Marist did not go quietly. A 7-1 run by the Red Foxes tied the set at 12-12, as Marist looked to extend the match. URI withstood the surge, using a 7-1 spurt of its own to pull ahead 20-15. The Rhody run included a pair of Aerin Bowman kills along with another combined block by Bowman and Chloe Abuto. The outcome was never in doubt from there and URI closed out the win by scoring the final four points of the night with a block by Abuto and Megan Disu, an ace from Emma Vente and two kills from Madi Disu.
 
Inside the Box Score

• Havyn Rolle had a team-high 13 kills while hitting .435. She added five blocks and three digs.
• Aerin Bowman had a career-high 11 blocks to go with seven kills.
• Chloe Abuto tied her career-high with 10 blocks.
• Rhode Island has recorded 10 or more blocks in five of its last six matches. The Rams are 5-1 in those matches.
• Megan Disu had nine kills with just two errors in 18 attacks.
• Setters Catalina Hendricks and Kiera McCarles combined for 29 assists and seven digs.
• With the victory, Rhode Island has already exceeded its win total from last season. The Rams were 4-26 a year ago.

Up Next
Rhode Island will face Villanova in the championship match of the Wildcat Challenge, as Villanova swept Temple 3-0. The title match will be Saturday, Sept. 21 at 7 p.m. on FloVolleyball.com.