KINGSTON, R.I. - Saint Louis won a five-set thriller against Rhode Island Sunday in Atlantic 10 Conference volleyball action at Keaney Gymnasium. Set scores were 25-20, 24-26, 25-18, 22-25, 15-13.

It was the second-straight road victory for the Billikens, who even their record at 8-8 overall and improve their A-10 mark to 4-2. Rhode Island falls to 10-9 overall, 2-3 in the league.

Andrea Beaty paced the Billiken offense with 25 kills, while Alyssa Deno registered 23. Andrea Bolt collected 24 digs, Deno had 18 and Grace Bonoma had 11. It was Deno's second-consecutive double-double. Cassie Clarke had 46 assists, nine digs and five blocks, while Carly Marcum and Carly Schumacher registered eight blocks apiece.

The Billikens got off to a fast start, leading wire-to-wire in the first set. A pair of kills by Beaty late in the opening set helped SLU register the five-point victory. Set two saw 15 ties and five lead changes. With the score tied 24-24, Rhode Island would record two straight kills to even the match at 1-1.

Set three was another closely contested set, and the Billikens came out on top after recording five of the final seven points, with the clinching kill coming from Marcum. Rhode Island led all of set four, setting up the decisive set five.

Set five went back and forth, as the squads were tied on five occasions and the lead changed twice. URI went up 5-2 early and had an 8-5 advantage before the Billikens rallied to gain a lead they would not relinquish. Beaty mixed a pair of kills in with three Ram attacking errors to give SLU the lead.

Rhode Island did not go down quietly, tying the match twice. But a Deno kill made it 13-12, and SLU would go on for the decisive win in the fifth set.