Rhode Island Starters
Melton, McCarles, Abuto, Vente, Bowman, Jonick, Henry (L)

Siena Starters
Wire, Willmott, Seymour, Treasure, Diraz, Doganyuz, Phillips (L)

How It Happened
Rhode Island (1-0) swept Siena 25-20, 25-23, 25-21 Friday afternoon in the season opener for both teams. The match was the first of the six-match, three-team tournament being hosted by Stony Brook this weekend.

Set One – Rhode Island 25, Siena 20
A balanced attack helped Rhode Island lead the set from start to finish. McKenna Melton and Chloe Abuto had four kills each, while Emma Vente added three of her own. The Rams hit .250 as a team, recording 14 kills with just six attack errors.

Set Two – Rhode Island 25, Siena 23
Trailing 21-16 late in the set, Rhode Island stormed back to take command of the match. Aerin Bowman had two kills while Chloe Abuto and Hannah Jonick added one each in a 4-1 run that closed the gap to 22-20. A block by Bowman and Jonick closed the gap to one, but Siena scored to go ahead, 23-21. A Bowman kill, a block by Jonick and Havyn Rolle and a kill by Emma Vente closed out the set for a 2-0 lead.

Set Three – Rhode Island 25, Siena 21
The Rams hit a strong .300 as a team in the third set, holding the lead for the majority of the set. Aerin Bowman and Emma Vente led the way with four kills each as URI had 13 kills with four attacks to confidently close out the match.

Inside the Box Score

• Rhode Island won its season opener for the first time since 2021. It is just the second opener the Rams have won since 2015. 
• Senior Aerin Bowman led Rhode Island with 10 kills to go with five blocks.
• Junior Chloe Abuto had eight kills and six blocks in the middle.
• Redshirt sophomore McKenna Melton just missed a double-double in her Rhody debut, finishing with eight kills and 10 digs.
• Redshirt senior Emma Vente had nine kills, four digs and three blocks.
• Senior Kiera McCarles had 21 assists and eight digs, while and junior Ema Stermenska added 13 assists.
• Sophomore Dakota Henry had a team-high 11 digs.
• Freshman Hannah Jonick both started in their collegiate debut. Jonick had three blocks.
• Also making her collegiate debut was freshman Autumn Tombline.
• Rhody's defense limited Siena to a .085 attack percentage.

Up next
Rhode Island plays Central Connecticut State Saturday, Aug. 30 at 12 p.m. The match is scheduled to stream on FloCollege.com.