Moon Township, Pa. ? Despite a very aggressive and well-fought performance, the Robert Morris Colonials led by sixth year head coach Rob Thomas dropped their first match of the season to a very strong College of Charleston squad. In route to a 3-0 victory, the Cougars downed the Colonials 25-13, 25-21 and 25-18.

RMU entered the match on high note, with the Colonials starting off the first set with a three point lead due to middle blocker Amanda Graham's (Melbourne, Fla. / Eau Gallie) resilient block. However, College of Charleston quickly recovered when Whitney Russell went back to the serving line and led her team on a six point run. Robert Morris continued to put forth a solid effort, but it was the Cougars who came out on top to win 25-13 in the first set.

Graham's dominant performance from last week carried over in RMU's first match, as she contributed three kills on zero errors in the first set of the game. Outside hitters Charla Drabant (Wheaton, Ill. / Wheaton North) and Emily Wolthuis (Byron Center Mich. / South Christian) each added a pair of kills in the set one defeat.

In set two, the Colonials looked to regain their stride and came out with a lot more energy. RMU held off the Cougar attack for the first half of the game, leading at one point 13-10. Sophomore middle blocker Jaye Hellmich (Costa Mesa, Calif. / Estancia) gave RMU an offensive spurt with three kills in the first half of the set, with two of them coming back-to-back. The Cougars bounced back and went on an eight point serving run to regain the lead, 19-11. Freshman setter Alyssa Bennett (Ramona, Calif. / Ramona) did her best to hold off College of Charleston when they were up 24-17 by serving up four straight points for the Colonials, including one service ace. Unfortunately, it wasn't enough and the Cougars took set two 25-21.

Set three told a similar story, with both teams battling back and forth in the beginning, and the Cougars taking the win at the end. Both teams traded points until the Cougars earned the 9-8 lead and were in command for the rest of set. In spite of several hustle plays by senior libero Alaina Gibson (Muncie, Ind. / Muncie Burris), the Colonials were unable to regain the lead. The third set ended 18-25.

Graham led the Colonials with ten kills on a .500 hitting average, while also contributing two digs and two blocks. Drabant and Wolthuis earned six kills and four kills, respectively, with both earning five digs each. Bennett led the team with 19 assists and Gibson led the defense with eight digs and two service aces.

College of Charleston was led by Emily Sawin and Elyse Chubb who put up ten kills and nine kills, respectively. Cole Dawley led in assists with 31, Jennifer Darty had a team high seven blocks and Paige Johnson led the Cougars with ten digs.

The Colonials are now 4-1 and return to Stetson tomorrow to face the Stetson Hatters at 11:00 a.m. and the Citadel Bulldogs at 1:30 p.m.