Moon Township, Pa. ? Nov. 22, 2008 ? In a disappointing five-set match the Robert Morris University Colonials fell to the Saint Francis (Pa.) Red Flash in the semifinals of the 2008 NEC Volleyball Tournament on Saturday evening at the Robert Morris Sewall Center. The defeat marks just the ninth loss to the Red Flash since the start of the Colonial volleyball program in 1981 and marks the first time Robert Morris will not appear in the NEC Championship match since 1998.

The Colonials took the first set easily by a score of 25-15. Outside hitters Emily Wolthuis (Byron Center, Mich. / South Christian) and Charla Drabant (Wheaton, Ill. / Wheaton North) led the squad with four kills apiece. As a team, the squad hit .312 and held the Red Flash to a .000 average, while also tallying 14 kills to SFPA's six.

The Colonials got off to a slow start in the second set, but rallied back to tie things up at 12-12. Both teams traded side-outs for the rest of the set, but Saint Francis (Pa.) got a few lucky bounces to take the 25-23 win.

In set three, Robert Morris came back with a vengeance and scored a 25-13 victory to take the 2-1 lead. Senior Alaina Gibson (Muncie, Ind. / Muncie Burris) compiled two service aces in the win and freshman Alyssa Bennett (Ramona, Calif. / Ramona) went three for three to lead the team in kills.

Despite putting down 15 kills to the Red Flash's 11, the Colonials dropped set four by another score of 25-23 forcing the match to be decided by a fifth set.

Robert Morris got the early 10-4 lead, but Saint Francis slowly closed in on the RMU lead to tie things up at 12-12 and pushed their way to the 15-13 triumph and match win.

Wolthuis led the match with 18 kills and 15 digs, while freshman Hannah Veith (Columbus, Ohio / Worthington) also finished in double-digit kills with 10 and added six blocks.

Sophomore Amanda Graham (Melbourne, Fla. / Eau Gallie) and Drabant each contribute nine kills, with Graham also adding two service aces and four blocks. Senior Cassie Lee (Vista, Calif. / Vista) and Bennett both put down eight kills. Bennett also finished with a match high 50 assists and five blocks and Lee tallied three blocks and 12 digs. Gibson put together a match high 23 digs and two service aces.

Kristen Buter and Lindsay Malloy led the way for the Colonials with 14 and 11 kills, respectively. Rikki Myers led the team in assists with 39 and Shirley Miller led the squad in digs with 20.

The Robert Morris University Colonials end the 2008 season with a 19-10 record.