Box Score Brooklyn Heights, N.Y. - Junior middle blocker Hannah Veith (Columbus, Ohio / Worthington) posted a team-high 10 kills and a match-high six blocks to lead the Robert Morris University volleyball team to its second straight sweep to open Northeast Conference (NEC) play as the Colonials posted a 25-22, 25-21, 25-17 victory over St. Francis (N.Y.) Sunday afternoon at the Genovesi Center in a battle of teams that won their conference openers.
Robert Morris hit a season-high .324 for the match, helped in large part by Veith's .421 mark. Sophomore opposite Amanda Craig (Houston, Texas / St. Agnes Academy) also had an extremely efficient day offensively as she notched seven kills on just nine attempts and hit .556 for the match. Senior captain Charla Drabant (Wheaton, Ill. / Wheaton North) contributed on both ends as she recorded eight kills, hitting .316, six digs and a match-high three aces, tying her career high.
Drabant's trio helped RMU to a season-high nine aces while Robert Morris limited the Terriers to just two. It marked the first time in its last 74 matches that the Colonials garnered at least a seven-ace edge over their opponent. Robert Morris also outblocked St. Francis 7-2 as the Colonials still have been outblocked only once this year. Veith registered at least six rejections for the sixth time this season, matching her 2009 total with 16 matches remaining.
After dropping the first three points of the game one, Robert Morris collected itself and took 11 of the next 15 points to open up a four-point lead. The Terriers would not let the lead top four as they slowly caught up to the Colonials, pulling even at 18-18. The teams alternated each of the next six points to square the game at 21 before RMU took control. Robert Morris won four of the final five points with Drabant collecting consecutive kills to close the game.
The Colonials used the momentum of their game one win to take the first six points of game two as sophomore outside hitter Lindsey Monger (Rising Sun, Md. / Rising Sun) recorded two aces and a kill in the stretch. Though the Terriers climbed back into the match, cutting the deficit to one on two occasions, they never were able to level the game. Robert Morris used a 10-4 run to turn a one-point edge into a 23-16 lead and held on for the commanding two-game lead.
After the Terriers took a 4-1 lead in the third game, Robert Morris won five consecutive points, including four straight on kills provided by senior Addie Jennings (Santa Barbara, Calif. / Dos Pueblos), Drabant and Veith, and would not trail again. Drabant contributed two aces and a kill to help turn a 10-9 RMU edge into a six-point cushion. The Colonials would lead by at least four the rest of the way and led by as many as nine in closing out the match.
Freshman Alex Deines (Centennial, Colo. / Littleton) and sophomore Andrea Catucci (Davidsonville, Md. / Archbishop Spalding) combined for 32 assists while Monger collected a match-high nine digs for the Colonials. RMU held the Terriers to just a .152 hitting percentage for the match. Coupled with its .324 percentage, Robert Morris posted its largest advantage in attacking percentage this season.
After the first weekend of conference play, Robert Morris is the only team to post a 2-0 record. The victory, which improved RMU to 23-1 all-time against the Terriers, also represented the end of a 13-match road trip for the Colonials. RMU will play its first home match in 35 days Saturday, Oct. 2 as the Colonials welcome a pair of NEC foes next weekend. Robert Morris will take on Bryant Saturday before meeting up with Central Connecticut State Sunday afternoon. Both contests will start at 1:00 p.m.
