Rhode Island Starters
Houchens, Johnson, Abuto, Stermenska, Richter, Sawyer, Henry (L)
George Mason StartersÂ
Hamilton, Hunt, Thompson, Cheney, Gelfund, Brown, Martinez-Robinson (L)Â
How it Happened
George Mason's Kiera Hamilton was a one-woman wrecking crew on offense as she led the Patriots to a 3-1 (25-15, 25-16, 20-25, 25-19) win over Rhode Island Friday.
Hamilton drilled 27 kills for the Patriots (9-4, 1-0 A10), who won the league opener for both sides. She had at least five kills in all four sets, including 10 in the third set alone. Rhode Island (5-8, 0-1 A10) had 37 kills as a team.
Set One - George Mason 25, Rhode Island 15
The opening set was not very competitive, as the host Patriots hit .419 as a team, while Rhode Island hit .000. Kiera Hamilton had six kills with no errors to spearhead a George Mason that had 17 kills with just four errors in 31 swings.
Set Two - George Mason 25, Rhode Island 16
It was more Kiera Hamilton had six more kills in the second set. Through the first two sets, she nearly matched URI's total, as Hamilton had 12 kills and Rhode Island had 12. The Patriots had 18 kills to just seven for the Rams as the hosts breezed to a 2-0 lead.
Set Three - Rhode Island 25, George Mason 20
George Mason looked to be cruising to the victory when it started the third set with a 5-1 run. However, Rhode Island came to life with a 14-5 run. Consecutive kills from
Havyn Rolle,
Cara Richter and
Hannah Jonick helped the Rams take a 15-10 lead into the technical timeout. Jonick sparked the team with four kills in set and Rolle extended the match with her third kill of the set.
Set Four - George Mason 25, Rhode Island 19
The fourth set began as a carbon copy of the third. George Mason got out to a 5-1 lead before
Cara Richter served Rhody back into the match. The Rams used a 6-0 run - five of which were served by Richter - to pull ahead 7-5. This time, Rhody ran out of gas. After a
KJ Johnson kill put URI up 9-8, George Mason used a 4-0 spurt to move ahead 12-9 and never relinquished the lead. Nia Thompson's 12th kill of the night ended the match.
Inside the Box Score
- Hannah Jonick gave the team a boost off the bench, recording six kills and just one error.
- Havyn Rolle was solid on the attack, recording seven kills to go with nine digs.
- Dakota Henry neared a double-double with 23 digs and eight assists.
- Setters Ema Stermenska and Carly Thomas combined for 25 assists and 15 digs.
Up Next
Rhode Island and George Mason are back at it Saturday, Sept. 26. The 12 p.m. match will be streamed on ESPN+.
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