Rhode Island Starters
Ma. Disu, McCarles, Abuto, Rolle, Vente, Lamoreaux, Bowman, Henry (L)

Villanova Starters
McKinnon, Feczko, Garvey, Nelson, Young, Harrell, Buck-Taylor, Ozonoh (L)

How It Happened
Villanova (7-4) extended its winning streak to four matches by sweeping Rhode Island 3-0 (25-12, 25-23, 25-19) in the title match of the Wildcat Challenge Saturday night.

Set One – Villanova 25, Rhode Island 12
The hosts took five of the first six points of the match and never looked back in the opening set. Abby Harrell and Riley Homer both had four kills with no errors in just nine combined attacks to lead an offense that posted 16 kills in the set. Rhody struggled to get much going, hitting -.087 as a team in the set.
 
Set Two – Villanova 25, Rhode Island 23
The second set displayed significantly more competitive action, though the Wildcats again never trailed. The teams were tied 4-4 following a Madi Disu solo block for URI and then 5-5 after a Disu kill. From there, Villanova led the rest of the way, despite never getting ahead by more than four points. Rhody got within one point at 12-11, 19-18 22-21 and 24-23, but it could never get over the hump. Trailing 24-21, the Rams fought off two set points, but a Cat Young kill ended the comeback hopes and put the Wildcats up 2-0.

Set Three – Villanova 25, Rhode Island 19
Villanova proved too much in the third, knocking down 13 kills with just four errors. Rhody again kept it close, tying the set at 10-10 on an Erike Bracey kill. A mini Wildcat run made it 13-13 before URI came right back with three straight points, two of which came on Chloe Abuto kills. That was the last tie in the set, as Villanova ran off four straight point to go up 17-13 and then kept the Rams at an arm's length the rest of the way.
 
Inside the Box Score

• Havyn Rolle led Rhode Island with seven kills, while Aerin Bowman added six..
• Freshman Erika Bracey had a career-best five kills in two sets. She added two blocks.
• After a negative hitting percentage in the first set (4 kills, 6 errors), Rhody was much cleaner in the latter two frames. In sets two and three, URI had 26 kills with 12 errors.
• Setters Kiera McCarles (14 assists, 4 digs) and Catalina Hendricks (12 assists, 6 digs) split time running the offense.

Up Next
Rhode Island will visit Penn for a single match Sunday afternoon. The match begins at 1 p.m. and will stream on ESPN+.