KINGSTON, R.I. – Rhode Island defeated Saint Louis 3-1 Thursday in Atlantic 10 Conference volleyball action at Keaney Gymnasium on the URI campus.
The Billikens fall to 8-14 overall and 3-7 in the A-10. Rhode Island improves to 8-15 and is also now 3-7 in league play.
The two teams meet again tomorrow in a 5 p.m. (CT) first serve. The match will be streamed on ESPN+.
Delaney Rice led the Bills' attack with 14 kills. A quartet of players finished with eight kills, including Irmak Gokcen who hit an impressive .636 (season-high eight kills, one error, 11 attempts). Gokcen added five blocks.
Trinity Luckett led SLU with seven blocks to go along with eight kills. Addy Brus and Kayla Jansen had three service aces apiece.
Carlie Rodgers finished with 20 kills and a season-high nine assists. Abby Lynn had a team-high 20 assists and posted 12 digs for the double-double.
Rhode Island def. Saint Louis 27-25, 22-25, 25-23, 25-21
Set 1 – The first set saw both teams make big runs early on, but it became even midway through the set. SLU had it at set point with a 24-22 lead, but Rhody tallied three straight points to flip the script. Rice evened things at 25-all with a kill, but Rhode Island claimed the next two points to go up 1-0.
Set 2 – The Bills utilized a 6-1 spurt midway through the second set to go up 17-11. Rhody made several mini-runs to try to get back into it but SLU answered each time. The Bills held a comfortable lead at 23-18 before the Rams rattled off four straight points to force a SLU timeout. The Bills regrouped and got the next two points to even the match at 1-1.
Set 3 – The third set was similar to the first in that the Billikens had a lead late but had it stripped away. Trailing 20-16, SLU erupted to take seven of the next eight points to go up 23-21. But it was the Rams' turn for a rally and they closed the set on a 4-0 run to go up 2-1 in the match.
Set 4 – The Billikens continued to battle as set four was tied at 16-16. Rhode Island would win the next three points to grab a lead it would not relinquish, ultimately winning the set 25-21, and the match, 3-1.
