Brooklyn, N.Y. - Oct. 24, 2009 - The Robert Morris University Colonials rallied back from a two set deficit against the Long Island Blackbirds, but fell in a heartbreaking fifth set, 15-13, to give Long Island the 3-2 victory. The loss drops the Colonials to 8-17 overall and 5-3 in league play, while Long Island improves to 12-13 overall and remains undefeated with a 9-0 NEC record.
The Colonials started off set one with a 3-1 advantage off of a kill by junior Amanda Graham (Melbourne, Fla. / Eau Gallie) and back-to-back attacking errors by the Blackbirds. Long Island rallied back to knot the score 5-5 and the two squads battled back and forth until an RMU service error and consecutive kills by the Blackbirds gave them an 11-8 lead. Long Island continued to build upon that lead and took set one 25-16.
Graham hit perfectly in the second set, registering four kills on four attempts. However, the Blackbirds finished the set with 16 kills to RMU's nine and hit at a .455 efficiency to guide them to a dominating 25-13 triumph to give them a two set cushion.
Robert Morris regained its composure in the third set and went on to win 25-23. With the score deadlocked at 5-5, sophomore setter Alyssa Bennett (Ramona, Calif. / Ramona) went on a three point serving run to give Robert Morris an 8-5 lead. The Blackbirds sided out, but the Colonials quickly got the ball back and junior libero Corinne Moser (Meyersdale, Pa. / Meyersdale) went on another long serving run to give RMU its biggest lead thus far at 16-8. Long Island was slowly able to cut into RMU's lead, but the Colonials still maintained a five-point cushion when faced with game point. The Blackbirds would not give in so easily though, as they went on a five point run to bring the score within one, 24-23. Sophomore Hannah Veith (Columbus, Ohio / Worthington) stepped up for the squad and put the ball away following a Robert Morris time-out to win the third set.
The Colonials carried over its momentum into the fourth set and won by another 25-23 score. The Blackbirds started off on a 3-0 run, but Robert Morris quickly recovered during a serving run by Lindsey Monger (Rising Sun, Md. / Rising Sun). The Colonial block forced the Blackbirds to five consecutive attacking errors to give Robert Morris an 11-8 lead. At 11-9 in RMU's favor freshman Amanda Craig (Houston, Texas / St. Agnes Academy) captured a kill, which started a surge of six points for Robert Morris and gave them 17-9 lead. Just like the third set, the Blackbirds made a run at the end, but an attacking error by the Blackbirds gave Robert Morris the win to force the fifth set.
The fifth set score remained within one until back-to-back Colonial errors gave the Blackbirds a 9-7 advantage. A kill by Veith brought the score back within one, but Robert Morris was never able to surpass the Blackbirds. With the score set at 14-10, Robert Morris made a solid effort to win the match when Craig and Bennett both recorded kills and Moser captured a service ace to bring the score to 14-13. Unfortunately, LIU's Svetlana Simic captured the match point kill for the win.
The Colonials out-blocked the Blackbirds 11 to five, however, Long Island gained the advantage by recording 73 kills on a .287 hitting percentage to RMU's 46 kills on a .231 hitting percentage.
Graham led the Colonials with a season-high hitting percentage of .548 and tallied her second highest kill count of the season with 19. She also added four blocks contest. Veith and Craig both tallied seven kills and six blocks apiece and Bennett led the team with 12 digs and 38 assists.
The Colonials return to action tomorrow when they take on St. Francis (N.Y.) at 1:00 p.m. in Brooklyn, N.Y.
