Box Score Moon Township, Pa. - The Robert Morris University volleyball team was unable to carry over its momentum from Friday as the Colonials fell in three sets to Eastern Michigan in the finale, and de facto championship match, of the Robert Morris Holiday Inn Classic at the Charles L. Sewall Center Saturday evening.
With the win, the Eagles completed the tournament unbeaten and won for the 12th time in their past 13 matches overall while the Colonials settled for a 2-1 mark on the weekend.
Despite falling in their final match, Robert Morris still placed two student-athletes on the All-Tournament Team as junior opposite hitter Amanda Craig (Houston, Texas / St. Agnes Academy) and senior captain Hannah Veith (Columbus, Ohio / Worthington) both earned such honors.
Craig, who reset career highs in both kills and hitting percentage in two separate matches Friday, finished the event with 35 kills (3.5/set) and an impressive .440 hitting percentage. She also added 25 digs, nine assists, seven blocks and three aces over the trio of matches. Veith nailed 31 kills in the tournament while hitting .371 and also assisted the Colonial defense by notching 13 blocks in just 10 sets.
Veith led RMU against the Eagles by tallying team highs in both kills, eight, and blocks, four. Craig showcased her defensive skills against a strong Eastern Michigan squad by tying for the match high with 14 digs while also registering six kills.
Eastern Michigan clearly came to play as soon the match commenced as the Eagles claimed each of the first eight points and 12 of the first 14 overall. Facing such a large deficit proved too formidable for the Colonials to overcome as Eastern Michigan would cruise to the opening set and the lead in the match.
The second set began much more even than the opener as the Eagles held a slim one-point edge after 13 points. Eastern Michigan then opened it up courtesy of a 12-3 run, taking a commanding 10-point advantage in the process. However, the Colonials battled back, using a 10-3 run to pull right back into the thick of things--freshman outside hitter Erica Robb (Novi, Mich. / Novi) had three kills during the run while Veith and freshman middle blocker Becky Jay (Parma, Ohio / Padua Franciscan) each added a kill and a solo block. The Eagles held firm when they needed to, though, and held off the Colonial charge, taking the set 25-21. Despite dropping the set, RMU actually outhit the Eagles during the second stanza, holding the visitors to just a .116 mark.
Robert Morris took the lead in the first half of the third set thanks to a 6-2 spurt after the score had been knotted, 4-4. Eastern Michigan fought back to tie the set and would then use a critical 4-0 spurt to surge ahead, 15-11. The Eagles still led by four in the waning moments of the match, 23-19, and then grabbed the final two points to clinch the victory.
Freshman setter Hannah Hoffman (Parker, Colo. / Ponderosa) posted 25 assists and seven digs in the match while Robb added seven kills and four digs.
With its regular-season tournament schedule now complete, the Colonials will play one more non-conference match before jumping into Northeast Conference (NEC) action. RMU will travel west Tuesday, Sept. 20, as they meet Youngstown State for a 7 p.m. matchup. Robert Morris will then remain on the road for its first NEC weekend as it plays Long Island Saturday, Sept. 24, and St. Francis (N.Y.) Sunday, Sept. 25.
RMU head coach Dale Starr wanted to take a moment to recognize the RMU staff that helped assist with the event the past two days.
"I just wanted to thank all the individuals that helped with our tournament this weekend," Starr said. "This was a smooth tournament that encountered minimal problems, and that was largely due to the effectiveness and hard work of the group of people that contributed behind the scenes to this event."
