Women's Volleyball 9/3/2026 9:00:00 AM

Ocean State Cup Begins Friday In Keaney Gym

This is the third season of the Ocean State Cup, which features all four Division I programs in Rhode Island coming together for a round robin tournament.
Brown and Bryant are both 4-2 overall in the event.
Providence is 3-3, while Rhode Island is 1-5 in the first two years of the tournament.
Last season, Brown, Bryant and Providence all went 2-1, while URI dropped all three of its matches.
In 2024, Brown and Bryant both went 2-1, but Brown won in the head-to-head match up.
The event site rotates among the four schools. Bryant hosted the inaugural Ocean State Cup in 2024, and last season Providence hosted.
URI is looking to snap a four-match losing streak in the Ocean State Cup.

RHODE ISLAND VS. BRYANT - SERIES NOTES

Rhode Island is 10-5-1 against Bryant all-time.
Bryant has won five straight matches in the series.
URi's last victory over the Bulldogs came in the 2019 season.
Bryant was picked to finish second in the America East preseason poll, the highest placement for the Bulldogs since joining the league.
Head coach Theresa Garlacy led the team to a regular-season conference title last year. She is in her 31st season at the helm for the Bulldogs.
Bryant was 16-12 overall and 7-3 in league play.
Setter Madison Koeller and middle blocker Brookelyn Talmadge were both named to the America East Preseason All-Conference Team.
Koeller had 815 assists in 2025, the eighth-highest single-season total in program history.
Talmadge led the America East in hitting percentage (.406) and recorded 178 kills in 2025, earning an All-Conference Second Team nod.
She has tallied 150 or more kills in her first three seasons with the Bulldogs.

RHODE ISLAND VS. BROWN - SERIES NOTES

Rhode Island and Brown have faced each other 40 times.
Rhode Island holds a 27-12-1 series lead with the Bears, but Brown has won the last four matches.
This weekend is the start of the season for Brown. Bryant has four matches under their belt, while Rhody and Providence have both played three matches.
The Bears were picked to finish fourth in the Ivy League's preseason poll.
Setter Julia Kakkis, had 813 assists and averaged 9.67 assists per set last season.
She was an All-Ivy League honorable mention for the second-straight season while achieving 16 matches with at least 30 assists and reaching the 40-assist mark six times.

RHODE ISLAND VS. PROVIDENCE - SERIES NOTES

Rhode Island is 37-29-2 against Providence.
The Friars won last year's meeting, but Rhody had won three straight in the series before that.
Providence enters the weekend with a 2-1 record.
Lyric Berry led the team in blocks with 126.0 last season, which ranked her second in the BIG EAST.
PC head coach Margot Royer-Johnson is in her 27th season at the helm and has a record of 254-525.
She is married to Jeff Johnson, who is an associate athletic director for student-athlete development at URI.

FIRST-YEAR PLAYERS MAKE IMMEDIATE IMPACT

First-year players Cara Richter, Grace Keaney, Carly Thomas and Jahan Lalli all made major impacts during the opening weekend of the season.
Richter had a team-best 37 kills while starting all three matches.
She had two double-doubles, notching 10 kills and 10 digs against Siena and 14 kills with 11 digs at CCSU.
Keaney had 21 kills in 12 sets, averaging 1.75 kills per set.
Thomas started all three matches as the setter and had 87 assists, 24 digs and 17 kills.
She neared a triple-double in her debut, finishing with 43 assists, 11 digs and seven assists against Siena
Lalli saw extended time at setter against both Holy Cross and CCSU.
She had a double-double in the Holy Cross win, posting 16 assists and 11 digs.
She followed that with 15 assists and five digs at CCSU.

Players Mentioned