Box Score Moon Township, Pa. - Despite having defeated defending league champion Sacred Heart on the road less than one month ago, the Robert Morris University volleyball team was unable to make it back-to-back victories over the Pioneers as Sacred Heart walked away with a three-set victory in Northeast Conference (NEC) action Sunday afternoon at the Charles L. Sewall Center in each team's regular-season finale.
RMU already knew its postseason fate prior to Sunday's match as it was locked in as the fourth seed for the upcoming NEC Tournament. The Colonials will now travel to New York where they will take on host and top-seeded Long Island in the first NEC Semifinal next Saturday, Nov. 19, at a time to be announced. Robert Morris was the only NEC team to defeat the Blackbirds in the Wellness Center this season and has won each of its last three matches with Long Island away from home.
Junior Lindsey Monger (Rising Sun, Md. / Rising Sun) continued to add to her recent efficient offensive performances as she posted a match-high 16 kills with only three errors to hit .361. Monger's 16 kills marked her 21st double-digit kill effort of the season, including her eighth in a sweep, and also moved her into eighth place in single-season RMU history with 385 kills. Monger has now hit at least .350 in three of her past four matches, the first such stretch of her career. Although she tied for the team lead with six digs, Monger's streak of consecutive double-figure dig matches was snapped at 17.
Senior captain Hannah Veith (Columbus, Ohio / Worthington) added seven kills on just 15 attempts to hit .400, marking the 13th time in the past 18 matches in which she has reached or surpassed that figure. Her season average remained at .376, which would be the second-highest single-season mark ever at Robert Morris. With her three sets played Sunday, Veith moved into the top 10 at RMU in career sets played with 425 while also tallying her first-career ace.
Sacred Heart won each of the opening four points of the match, three of which came on kills, to take an early edge. With the Pioneers still leading by four, 11-7, Sacred Heart used an 8-2 spurt to take a commanding double-digit lead. However, Robert Morris began to battle back as it sprang to life, winning 10 of the next 12 points, to cut the Pioneer lead to 21-19. RMU still trailed by two, 23-21, when Sacred Heart won back-to-back points to take the opening set.
The beginning of the second set almost mirrored that of the first as Sacred Heart jumped out to a 6-1 lead with five of the points coming on kills. The teams were exactly even for the next 18 points as the Pioneers would take a 15-10 lead. Unlike the first set, though, it was the Pioneers, not the Colonials, who came on late as Sacred Heart used a 10-2 run to finish the set. Robert Morris dropped the second set despite hitting .455 as a team during the game.
After the squads split the opening six points of the third set, Sacred Heart slowly but surely began to pull away from the hosts as it won 14 of the ensuing 20 points to take an eight-point advantage, 17-9. Robert Morris was able to play exactly even with the Pioneers from that point forward, but it was not enough to stave off defeat.
Freshman Hannah Hoffman (Parker, Colo. / Ponderosa) led Robert Morris with 26 assists while junior Andrea Catucci (Davidsonville, Md. / Archbishop Spalding) and freshman Melissa Bograd (Lemont, Ill. / Lemont) both tied Monger for the team high in digs with six.
Robert Morris will next be in action when it takes on Long Island next Saturday as the Colonials make their 13th-consecutive NEC Tournament appearance. RMU will be looking to extend its own league record against the Blackbirds as it seeks a berth in its 14th overall NEC Championship match.
