Women's Volleyball 9/11/2026 9:30:00 AM

Rams Head to Lafayette for Leopard Invitational

Rhode Island and Lafayette will be meeting for the first time.
After not seeing the court in 2024, Auma Mbeche-Odiahambo led Lafayette in scoring last season, averaging 3.3 points per set. She led the team with 283 kills and was third with 50.0 blocks.
This season she is second on the team with 46 kills, but she averages a team-high 3.83 kills per set.
Justine Puig leads the Leopards with 56 kills.
Lafayette was picked to finish ninth out of nine teams in the Patriot League.
After dropping their final 11 matches of 2025, the Leopards have already won three matches this year.
The Leopards are 3-3 with a match at NJIT on Wednesday night. With one more win, Lafayette will match its victory total from a year ago, when it was 4-22.

RHODE ISLAND VS. PENN - SERIES NOTES

Rhode Island is 4-6 all time against Penn in a series that dates back to 1978.
The most recent meeting came in 2024, a 3-1 loss for Rhode Island on the road.
Penn comes into the weekend with a 2-1 record.
The Quakers were 12-12 overall and 6-8 in the Ivy League last season. They were picked fifth out of nine teams in the conference preseason poll.
Jenna Garner and Adell Murray were named to the Kristen Dickmann Invitational All-Tournament Team after helping the Quakers go 2-1 with wins over Coppin State and Navy.
Garner hit .239 and averaged 3.07 kills per set at the tournament, while Murray had 36 kills and 10 blocks over the course of the three matches.
Setter Emory Moore averaged 8.88 assists per set in the team's opening three matches.

RHODE ISLAND VS. QUINNIPIAC - SERIES NOTES

Rhode Island is 4-1 against Quinnipiac all time.
After the Rams won the first four meetings in the series, the Bobcats took the most recent meeting, winning 3-2 in the 2024 season opener at the UNF Invitational in Jacksonville.
The Bobcats are 1-4 entering the weekend. They were picked second out of 12 teams after going 19-12 overall and 16-2 in the MAAC last season.
With Quinnipiac's win over NJIT, head coach Kyle Robinson recorded his 100th career victory with the program.

ABUTO ONE BLOCK AWAY FROM 300

Fourth-year middle blocker Chloe Abuto needs just one block to reach 300 in her career.
She would be the 10th player in URI history to reach the milestone, and the first in nine seasons to do so. The last Rhody player to reach the mark was Marie Gillcrist, who finished with 419 in 2017.
Through six matches this season, Abuto is third on the team with 19 total blocks. Transfers Emily Sawyer (Sacred Heart) and KJ Johnson (Elon) lead the team with 23 and 20, respectively.
Rhode Island's leader in blocks each of the last two seasons, Abuto had 108 blocks in 2025 and 134 in 2024.
Abuto is just the third Rhode Island player to reach 100 blocks in a season more than once since the start of the rally-point era (2001-present).
The others were Layne Self (four times from 2013-17)) and Michelle Fulton (2001, 2003).
Abuto is the only Rhode Island player in the rally point era to record 10 blocks in three different matches. She did so against American in 2023, Marist in 2024 and Fordham in 2025.

RICHTER LEADING ATTACK IN FIRST YEAR

First-year outside hitter Cara Richter leads Rhode Island in total kills (65), kills per set (2.6), total attacks (190) and total points (70.5).
She also is third on the team with 46 digs,
Richter is one of four Rams to play in every set thus far, along with libero Dakota Henry, middle blocker KJ Johnson and setter Carly Thomas.

Players Mentioned