Moon Township, Pa. ? Oct. 18, 2008 ? The Robert Morris University Colonials topped conference foe Saint Francis (Pa.) 3-2 in their sixth five-set match of the season at DeGol Arena in Lorreto, Pa.  The Colonials overcame a two set deficit to win their second straight conference match.

The Red Flash opened up the first set with a 2-0 lead, but freshman setter Alyssa Bennett (Ramona, Calif. / Ramona) was able to get the RMU offense started with a dump to bring the score to 2-1. Both teams traded points until the score was deadlocked, 8-8. Sophomore outside hitter Charla Drabant (Wheaton, Ill. / Wheaton North) went back to the serving line and went on a four point serving run to give Robert Morris the 12-8 advantage.

Saint Francis (Pa.)'s Kristen Buter and Keshia Gibbs each acquired a couple kills to close in on Robert Morris's lead, but Robert Morris was able to produce kills by four different Colonials to keep the advantage.

A service ace by Drabant and a kill by senior outside hitter Emily Wolthuis (Byron Center, Mich. / South Christian) brought the Colonials to game point and a service error by Saint Francis gave Robert Morris the set one advantage.

Bennett led all hitters in set one with six kills on 100 percent hitting efficiency, while Wolthuis added four put downs.

In a turn of events, the second set started in the Colonials favor, but Robert Morris was unable to finalize the win. Both teams battled back and forth with the score being knotted 16 times with seven lead changes. At 24-24 Saint Francis (Pa.)'s Buter put away two balls to earn the 26-24 win and even the match 1-1.

Drabant, Wolthuis and freshman Hannah Veith (Columbus, Ohio / Worthington) all contributed four kills apiece in the second set, while Bennett and sophomore Amanda Graham (Melbourne, Fla. / Eau Gallie) earned three.

The third set resulted in similar fashion to the second, with ten tied scores, five lead changes and Saint Francis ending with the win.

Drabant started things off with a service ace and an error by the Red Flash gave the Colonials the 2-0 lead. Two straight kills by Gibbs knotted things up at 2-2, but an attack error by Shirley Miller gave Robert Morris the one point advantage. An ace by Bennett and a kill by Wolthuis gave the Colonials a four point cushion, but a few kills by the Red Flash and a couple attack errors by RMU tied things up at 7-7.

At 16-16 the Colonials earned three straight points and continued to be in front for the rest of the set. Unfortunately, the Red Flash came from behind and tied things up at 22-22 and two straight errors by Robert Morris gave the Red Flash a lead at 23-22. Senior Cassie Lee (Vista, Calif. / Vista) made one last effort to take the lead with a kill, but Buter and Shirley Miller were also able to connect to earn the 25-23 win for the Red Flash.

Robert Morris came back in the fourth set and dominated. The score remained close until 7-7, when RMU was able to pull away to an 11-7 lead off of kills by Lee and Drabant and a couple attacking errors by SFPA. From that point, Robert Morris was able to cruise to a 25-18 victory to force a set five.

Robert Morris earned the benefit of six attacking errors by the Red Flash, while the Colonials only made one error and tallied seven kills for a .353 hitting average. The Colonials strong defense held Saint Francis to a -.034 hitting average.

In set five, both teams put up a tough fight for the match win. However, with the score at 5-4 in the Colonials favor senior libero Alaina Gibson (Muncie, Ind. / Muncie Burris) and Drabant chased down a ball that ended in a kill by Veith to give them the 6-4 lead and the momentum to win the match. Saint Francis called a time-out to try to regroup, but could not withstand the Robert Morris attack. The Colonials ended the set winning 15-7 for the match win.

Bennett led the Colonials with a triple-double, earning 50 assists, 10 digs and 14 kills on a .737 hitting average, while also adding three blocks. Wolthuis and Drabant each added double-doubles with Wolthuis earning a team high 15 kills and 12 digs and Drabant adding 10 kills and 16 digs.

Veith was the fourth Colonial to finish with plus-10 kills, earning a career high 13 on a .500 average. Sophomore Amanda Graham tallied a team high five blocks, and Gibson contributed a match high 26 digs.

Robert Morris is now 2-0 in conference play and 13-8 overall. The squad heads to New York next weekend to take on Hofstra on Friday, Oct. 24 at 4:00 p.m. and conference foe Wagner on Saturday, Oct. 25 at 4:00 p.m.