Rhode Island Starters
Abuto, Rolle, Vente, Stermenska, Jonick, Henry, Powers (L)

Fordham Starters
Talabong, Brown, Sweeney, Kuyn, Holderied, Woodrow, Ozaslan (L)

How It Happened
Rhode Island showed fight, but ultimately fell in four sets (25-18, 25-23, 26-28, 25-21) to Fordham on Wednesday night in the Bronx.

Set One - Fordham 25, Rhode Island 18
A Hannah Jonick kill brought Rhode Island within two points in the opening set, 11-9. From there, Fordham would go on an 8-1 run that helped separate the Bronx Rams. Rhody showed some fight late in the set. Emma Vente's ace brought the Kingston Rams with three points, 21-18. Fordham then closed the set on a 4-0 run securing the set. 

Set Two - Fordham 25, Rhode Island 23
A Zoe Talabong kill for Fordham brought the score to 12-3, signaling what could be a convincing Bronx Rams set win. Then Rhody fought back. A Fordham attack error late in the set capped off a 19-11 Rhody run that brought the Kingston Rams with one at 23-22. Fordham, however, clinched the seccond set by scoring two of the next three points.

Set Three - Rhode Island 28, Fordham 26
Rhody took the third set to extend the match. With the score tied at 25, URI got two critical kills late. Aerin Bowman's kill gave Rhode Island a one-point lead at 26-25, but a service error tied the score at 26-26. Fordham returned the favor with a service error of its own, and McKenna Melton clinched the set with a kill.

Set Four - Fordham 25, Rhode Island 21 
Rhode Island had a 21-19 lead following an Aerin Bowman block, putting URI four points away from tying the match. However, Fordham ended the match with a 6-0 run that featured two kills by Audrey Brown to bring the match to an end. 

Inside the Box Score

• Ryleigh Powers' 13 digs was tied for the match high. The senior now has double-digit dig efforts in her last five matches and in six of her last seven.
• Aerin Bowman had team-highs in kills (11), points (13.5) and blocks (4) for Rhody.
• Erika Bracey notched her first double-digit kill performance of the season. Her 10 kills matched her career-high that she originally set against Duquesne in 2024.
• Kiera McCarles led all Rams with 19 assists in the match, her third-straight double-digit assist performance. 

Up Next
Rhode Island heads home for a pair of weekend contests against VCU. The teams will play at 6 p.m. on Saturday evening, and 1 p.m. on Sunday afternoon. The Sunday match will be streamed on ESPN+.