Rhody volleyball earns two victories against UNC at Charlotte, GWU

10/30/08 - The University of Rhode Island women's volleyball team improved to 11-11 after a successful weekend, defeating the University of North Carolina at Charlotte and George Washington University, 3-0 and 3-2 respectively."Going on the road and winning two Atlantic 10 matches is hard to do," head coach Bob Schneck said. "It really shows progression."

On Friday, the Rams traveled to North Carolina for a conference match-up against the Charlotte 49ers. Junior Caitlyn Welsh continued her dominance over the opponent, fighting for 13 kills with just one error and a .462 hitting percentage.

Sophomore Lauren McIntosh had nine kills, as well as matching the .462 hitting percentage of Welsh. Senior Peggy Doino had 14 digs in the match.

Midway through the first game, URI held a slim 14-13 lead. The Rams then took the game, winning 10 of the next 13 points to take a 24-16 lead. A late run by the 49ers brought the game closer, but a kill by McIntosh ended the comeback, winning the game 25-20.

In the second set, the Rams faced a deficit late in the game, trailing 16-10. URI continued to chip away at that lead, working to tie the score at 19 apiece. After a setting error by the Rams, Welsh and sophomore Kayla Newberg earned back-to-back kills to give the team its first lead of the game.

The Rams and 49ers traded points until the score was 23-22 in favor of URI. After a kill from Welsh and an attack error by Charlotte, the Rams won the game 25-22 to take a comfortable 2-0 match lead.

URI quickly took a 6-2 lead in game three, and never saw the lead shrink to less than three points. The Rams cruised to a 25-19 victory, sweeping the 49ers in straight sets.

"I'm really excited about the potential shown," Schneck said. "We're really playing well."

The Rams traveled to play George Washington on Sunday, and seemed to carry momentum from the first match. URI fought hard for an early lead and kept it throughout the first set, winning the game 25-20.

The Colonials responded by grabbing an early lead in game two. The Rams kept the game close until the score was 18-18. GWU took seven of the next 10 points, earning them a 25-21 victory, and tying the match at one game apiece.

After eight lead changes in decisive game three, the score was knotted at 20. The Rams took five of the next six points to win the game 25-21, putting them up 2-1 in the match.

URI held a 17-15 lead late in the fourth game and was on the verge of victory. The Colonials went on an 8-1 run to take a commanding 23-18 lead. They then went on to win the match 25-20, taking the match to a fifth and final set.

The Colonials appeared to be in control with their 9-6 game five lead, but it was not enough to hold back URI. The Rams won the next eight points, winning them the match, 15-10.

"What an excellent trip," Schneck said. "There were tons of people at George Washington, and they are at the top of their division."

The Rams had four players in double-digits for kills in the match. Welsh led the way, killing the ball 16 times as well as digging it 21 times. McIntosh and Newberg each had 11 kills in the match. Sophomore setter Lindsay Lytle tallied 10 kills on top of her 51 assists.

Caitlyn Welsh was named Atlantic 10 Volleyball Co-player of the Week after the successful weekend. She leads the team with 282 kills this season, and has had 10 or more kills in all of her last 10 matches.

"She was very worthy of that award," Schneck said. "She has been very efficient. As a local kid, she's really a great story come true."

The Rams will play a pair of matches against Xavier University on Saturday and Dayton University on Sunday. All proceeds from the Dayton match will go directly to breast cancer research in Rhode Island.

"It's family weekend and fraternities will be playing in between games," Schneck said. "We were killed by Xavier's extreme fans, so I'm hoping we can do it back to them on our home court.