Moon Township, Pa. - October 10, 2009 - The Robert Morris University Colonials topped the Bryant Bulldogs in three sets (25-18, 25-17 and 25-22) on Saturday at the Charles L. Sewall Center during RMU's inaugural Dig Pink contest to remain undefeated in NEC play with a 3-0 record. With the win Robert Morris improved its overall record to 6-14, while the Bulldogs fell to 5-14 and 0-2 in league play.
The Colonials raised approximately 300 hundred dollars during the contest and all will benefit the Side-Out Foundation, a national 501 (c) (3) located in the Washington DC Metropolitan Area. The foundation has raised thousands of dollars for breast cancer research nationally through volleyball tournaments, clinics and rallies. The foundation supports health care professionals in their pursuit of practical solutions for women and men with this dreaded disease thus enabling those affected to regain control of their lives and living them to the fullest.
Bryant started off with the first kill of the game to take an early 1-0 lead, but freshman Amanda Craig (Houston, Texas / St. Agnes Academy) responded with a kill of her own to knot the score 1-1. She followed that kill with a service ace and a put down by sophomore setter Alyssa Bennett (Ramona, Calif. / Ramona) gave Robert Morris a 3-1 advantage. The Colonials continued to dominate Bryant for the remainder of the set due to several errors by the Bulldogs. Robert Morris tallied six blocks to Bryant's two throughout set one, which led to the Colonial 25-18 win.
The Colonials maintained their momentum going into the second set and defeated the Bulldogs 25-17. Bryant started off the game with a service ace, but followed it with a service error to give RMU the ball. Craig then went on a four point run with a kill by Bennett and back-to-back kills by junior Amanda Graham (Melbourne, Fla. / Eau Gallie), bringing the score to 5-1. At 9-3 Graham went back to the serving line and captured three service aces during a six point run to set the score at 13-4. The Colonials continued to lead for the remainder of the set with Graham pacing the Colonials with six kills.
Bryant put up more of a fight in the final set, but Robert Morris was still able to pull away with the 25-22 win. For the majority of play, the game remained knotted or within one, but when the score was tied at 15-15 the Bulldogs made an attacking error which started a four point run for the Colonials. Robert Morris maintained this advantage to finish with the set and match win.
Graham led the Colonials with 10 kills, eight blocks and four service aces, while fellow middle blocker Hannah Veith (Columbus, Ohio / Worthington) also secured a top performance with eight kills and zero errors for a match high hitting percentage of .533. Bennett registered seven kills, eight digs and 26 assists, while Craig added eight kills and two blocks to the win. Junior Corinne Moser (Meyersdale, Pa. / Meyersdale) finished with 12 digs and was the only player to tally double-digit digs.
Robert Morris returns to action tomorrow to take on NEC foe Central Connecticut State at 1:00 p.m.
