Box Score Moon Township, Pa. - Senior captain Amanda Graham (Melbourne, Fla. / Eau Gallie) and junior Hannah Veith (Columbus Ohio / Worthington) helped the Robert Morris University volleyball team continue its winning ways at home as the Colonials swept defending Northeast Conference (NEC) champion Long Island, 25-15, 26-24, 25-17, for the second time this season Saturday afternoon at the Charles L. Sewall Center.
With the win, its fifth straight consecutive at home, Robert Morris improves to 6-2 in the NEC and moves two games clear of third-place Long Island in the loss column. After ending the Blackbirds' 23-match conference winning streak earlier this season, the Colonials picked up their first back-to-back wins over Long Island since 2004.
"Our middles were extremely good today, our energy was good and our communication was good," Robert Morris head coach Dale Starr said. "We had pretty good rhythm today, and we got contributions from everybody along the net which is going to be key for us moving forward. Our setters did a better job with their distribution today, and I think that led to our high hitting percentage since our hitters were able to have balls they could put away for most of the day. Hopefully, we can carry this into tomorrow."
The Colonials hit .324 as a team, their second highest mark this season, and their best in their last 20 matches at home. Robert Morris totaled 42 kills for the afternoon, tying its season high for a three-set match, as the only other time RMU reached that mark also occurred against the Blackbirds.
Graham led RMU with a team-high 10 kills, hitting .450, which leaves her just seven shy of reaching the 1,000-kill plateau for her career. After knocking down 17 kills Tuesday against Pittsburgh, Graham has recorded consecutive double-digit kill matches for the fourth time this season. It was also the ninth time this season that Graham has hit at least .400 in a match, and she now has a team-leading .387 percentage at home.
Veith, the NEC leader in blocks per game, finished with nine kills, hitting a match-high .484 (min. 10 attempts), and also contributed a match-high eight blocks. It is the eighth time this season she has hit at least .400, and she has now recorded at least six rejections in 10 matches this season.
The first game was close in the early going as Robert Morris held a slim 9-7 lead after 16 points. After senior Addie Jennings (Santa Barbara, Calif. / Dos Pueblos) drilled a kill for RMU, the Colonials collected three consecutive points courtesy of Veith as she put down two kills and added a solo block to give Robert Morris a 13-7 advantage. With RMU still leading by six, 19-13, the Colonials went on another four-point run, in which Graham added a kill and an ace and Veith had another solo block, to push their margin to an even 10 points, giving them a comfortable cushion to close out the opener.
After controlling much of the first game, the second proved to be a much tighter affair as it featured 11 ties. Neither team led by more than two points in the first half of the game, and RMU held a two-point lead after 28 points had been played. Long Island then proceeded to win five consecutive points, taking an 18-15 lead. The Blackbirds maintained their edge and were just two points away from evening the match as they led 23-20. After Starr called a timeout, the Colonials caught fire, taking six of the next seven points despite two Long Island timeouts intermixed, and opened up the commanding two-game lead.
After the teams split the first six exchanges of game three, Robert Morris took control by claiming eight of the next 10 rallies to open up a six-point lead which they would not relinquish. Long Island cut the lead to two on one occasion, 12-10, but the Blackbirds could get no closer. The Colonials finished the match on a 5-1 run to wrap up the sweep.
Robert Morris, ranked 18th nationally in blocks per game entering the week, outblocked Long Island 11-2, pushing its streak to 15 matches in which an opponent has been unable to outblock the Colonials. Robert Morris also now has reached double figures in blocks in seven consecutive matches and a total of 12 times this season overall. With their performances Saturday, Graham and Veith, tied with 82 block assists this season, both sit just two shy of the single-season block assist record of 84 which Graham currently holds with her marks from each of the past two seasons.
Sophomore Lindsey Monger (Rising Sun, Md. / Rising Sun) fell two kills shy of a double-double, but still collected her seventh consecutive match with double-digit digs as she posted a team-high 10 for the afternoon. Freshman Alex Deines (Centennial, Colo. / Littleton) and sophomore Andrea Catucci (Davidsonville, Md. / Archbishop Spalding) helped aid the Colonial attack by adding 23 and 15 assists, respectively.
Robert Morris will seek its sixth consecutive home victory Sunday when it faces NEC foe St. Francis (N.Y.) for the second time this season. First serve is set for 1 p.m.