A method for storing data in a storage system is provided, the method including: receiving a request to store data in a RAID volume of the storage system; selecting a stripe block size that is supported by the RAID volume, the RAID volume including a plurality of stripes that are formed of blocks having the selected stripe block size; and identifying a given one of the plurality of stripes that includes enough free space to accommodate the data and storing the data in the given stripe, the given stripe including a smaller amount of free space than at least some of the stripes in the plurality that have sufficient free space to accommodate the data.