Rhode Island Starters
Lalli, Johnson, Abuto, Rolle, Richter, Sawyer, Henry (L)
Brown Starters
Wolfson, Panzloff, Afonja, Kakkis, Shaw, Holley, McLaury (L)
How it Happened
In a match for the ages, Brown outlasted Rhode Island in historic fashion, winning 18-25, 21-25, 25-9, 40-38, 16-14 in the Ocean State Cup Saturday.
The 78 points scored was the most in a set in Keaney Gymnasium history, as well as the most in any set ever for Rhode Island (3-2). The previous mark was 72 points, in a 37-35 set the Rams dropped at George Washington in 2023.
Brown (1-1) rallied from a two-set deficit to claim its first win of the season in the thriller. Sophia Wolfson had 25 kills for the Bears and Fisayo Afonja added 21 for the victors.
Set One - Rhode Island 25, Brown 18
Led by
KJ Johnson (4 kills, 0 errors) and
Cara Richter (3 kills, 0 errors), the Rhode Island offense got off to a strong start.
Carly Thomas (4 assists),
Jahan Lalli (3 assists) and
Dakota Henry (3 assists) were all distributing the ball well as the Rams hit .270 as a team while taking the first set.
Set Two - Rhode Island 25, Brown 21
The second set was all Rhode Island, as there were no lead changes.
Havyn Rolle had four kills with no errors in just five swings, while
Emily Sawyer and
Cara Richter added three kills each. Rhody never truly pulled away, but it also maintained control throughout the set while taking a 2-0 lead.
Set Three - Brown 25, Rhode Island 9
As strong as the first two sets were, URI never got going in the third. URI had just four kills with nine attack errors. Brown had a combined nine kills with no errors from Fisayo Afonja and Sophia Wolfson. The Bears jumped out to a 15-4 lead and cruised to extend the match.
Set Four - Brown 40, Rhode Island 38
In a set that simply seemed surreal, the teams combined for 78 points in what was the longest set in the history of Rhode Island volleyball. The score was tied 24 times in the fourth set alone, with nine lead changes along the way. While Brown had a big edge in kills (28-16), the Bears also had eight service errors. With the score tied at 38-38, Sophia Wolfson and Fisayo Afonja provided back-to-back kills for Brown to finally end the set and even the match.
Set Five - Brown 16, Rhode Island 14
Following the marathon fourth set, Brown appeared to have all the momentum when it began the deciding fifth set with a 7-2 run. Rhode Island dug deep and responded with a 7-2 run up its own, tying the score at 9-9 on the second of back-to-back aces by
Dakota Henry. From there, the score was also tied at 10-10, 11-11, 13-13 and 14-14 as the two sides kept punching and counterpunching. After a URI service error gave the Bears match point, a Sophia Wolfson serve for Brown hit the tape on the net and trickled just over the net for an ace the ended the battle in unlucky fashion for the Rams.
Inside the Box Score
- The NCAA women's volleyball record for points in a single set is 90, which happened twice. It happened between Santa Clara and Saint Mary's in 2017 and again between Washington and Washington State in 2021.
- The fourth set between Rhode Island and Brown landed just outside the top 15 in NCAA women's volleyball history, Kennesaw State against Samford (2019); Oregon State against Minnesota (2018); and Wichita State against Tulsa (2018) are all tied for 15th place with sets of 41-39.
- KJ Johnson had a strong all-around match for Rhode Island, recording 10 kills with just two errors in 22 swings.
- Johnson also had seven blocks and four digs.
- Setter Jahan Lalli made the first start of her career.
- She recorded her second double-double of the season, finishing with 18 assists and 11 digs.
- Fellow setter Carly Thomas also had 18 assists to go with six digs and two aces.
- For the fourth time in five matches, Dakota Henry had 20-plus digs this year. She finished with 21 to go with six assists and three aces.
- Chloe Abuto had eight kills with just one error, hitting a team-best .467 for the match.
- Emily Sawyer had eight kills and five block assists.
- Grace Keaney added six kills and five block assists.
- Sydney Houchens provided a spark off the bench, recording three kills, two digs, one assist and 10 serve receptions without an error over the final two sets.
- Rhode Island had 12 blocks as a team.
- In the first match of the day, Providence defeated Bryant, 3-1.
Up Next
Rhode Island plays Providence Sunday at 3 p.m. Earlier in the day, Brown and Bryant will play at 12 p.m. Both matches will stream on ESPN+.
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