Despite the defeats, senior captain Amanda Graham (Melbourne, Fla. / Eau Gallie) had a memorable day for the Colonials as she broke the school record for career block assists by registering three in the team's first match of the day. Graham tallied two blocks in the span of three points late in the second game to tie and then move past Janette Schneider's previous record of 270. Graham now sits atop the RMU career list with 275 block assists after Friday's matches.

Junior Hannah Veith (Columbus, Ohio / Worthington) led the charge against Eastern Illinois with impressive displays on both the offensive and defensive ends. She collected a team-high eight kills while hitting .368 along with recording a remarkable career-high and match-high 10 blocks. It was the first time a Colonial recorded double-digit blocks in a match since October 23, 2004 when Schneider also notched 10 in a 3-2 victory over Long Island.

Graham contributed six kills on just 12 attempts without an error to hit .500 while senior captain Corinne Moser (Meyersdale, Pa. / Meyersdale) collected a team-high 13 digs against the Panthers. Freshman Alex Deines (Centennial, Colo. / Littleton) led the setting effort with 14 assists and senior Jaye Hellmich (Costa Mesa, Calif. / Estancia) aided the defensive cause with six blocks, tying her career high.

In the first game, RMU managed to cut a six-point deficit to just two, 15-13, but the Panthers responded with a 5-0 run to push their margin to seven. Eastern Illinois used this cushion to close it out and finished with a 25-19 victory.

Eastern Illinois jumped out to a large early edge in game two, opening up a 15-6 lead. RMU refused to go away, responding with a 17-9 run to cut the deficit to a single point at 24-23. The Panthers were able to eke out the next point and opened up a two-game lead. In spite of the narrow defeat, Veith and Hellmich put on quite the display as the duo combined on five blocks in the second game alone. Even more remarkably, the pair teamed up for four block assists in a five-point span.

The teams were very even during the early portion of the third game and found themselves knotted at 12. The Panthers proceeded to use a 13-3 run to close out the match.

Eastern Illinois was led by Kelsey Orr's 14 kills.

After recording 13 rejections in their morning match, the Colonials had notched double-figure block totals in three consecutive matches for the first time since November 2005.

Graham and Veith led the Colonial effort in its second match as well as both finished with double-digit kills and hitting percentages of at least .450. Graham had 10 kills and hit a match-high .474 (min. five attempts) while Veith recorded a team-high 11 kills and hit .450. Deines and sophomore Andrea Catucci (Davidsonville, Md. / Archbishop Spalding) each provided the offense with 17 assists while Moser had a team-leading 14 digs.

Pittsburgh jumped out to the early lead in game one, 12-6, but RMU took five of the next six points to cut the gap to two, forcing a Panther timeout. Pittsburgh responded by winning three straight points to push its advantage back to five and was able to hold on, winning game one 25-21.

The Colonials pushed the Panthers to the distance and then some in the second game. The Panthers led 10-9, but RMU went on a 10-5 run, using kills from four different players, to claim a 19-15 lead. Robert Morris led 23-20 before Pittsburgh won four consecutive points to earn a game point. RMU fought it off when Catucci set up classmate Lindsey Monger (Rising Sun, Md. / Rising Sun) for the tying kill. The Panthers won the ensuing rally to earn another game point, but Veith drilled a kill to knot the match at 25. After the Colonials saved two game points, the Panthers were finally able to take back-to-back points and opened up a two-game lead.

The Panthers took the early edge in the third game, taking 11 of the first 18 points. Robert Morris rallied, claiming seven of the next ten points, to tie the match at 14. With the game tied 16-16, Pittsburgh collected three straight points, which proved to be the final margin of victory as the Panthers claimed the game, 25-22.

Pittsburgh was led by Amy Town's 17 kills.

After collecting six blocks against Pittsburgh, Robert Morris has recorded 49 blocks over its last 14 games (four matches), averaging 3.5 blocks per game in that span. The Colonials have outblocked their opponents in 12 of their 13 matches this season.

Robert Morris will look to get back on track Saturday, but will have a tough test on its hands as it opens the day with a match against No. 9 Washington. The Colonials will then face Bowling Green in their final match of Pitt Blue and Gold Invitational.