Harrisonburg, Va. - Junior Lindsey Monger (Rising Sun, Md. / Rising Sun) totaled the most kills in a match for RMU since 2006 to help the Robert Morris University volleyball team to a 3-2, come-from-behind victory over Coastal Carolina Friday evening in the opening match of the JMU Invitational at Sinclair Gymnasium.

Monger's 21 kills marked a Colonials' highest single-match total in Robert Morris' last 133 matches and is the most in a regular-season match for RMU since September 2, 2005. She also added 11 digs to record Robert Morris' first double-double of the season and the ninth of her career, the most among all active Colonials.

RMU had to battle back after dropping the opening game of the match, 25-18, and also trailed 6-4 in the final set before winning nine consecutive points to put a stranglehold on the match.

Senior captain Hannah Veith (Columbus, Ohio / Worthington) nailed a season-high 17 kills with just three errors to hit at a team season-high .519 clip. Veith's 17 kills are her highest amount ever in a match away from home and also her best total in a non-conference match in her career.

Veith, Monger and the rest of the Colonial offense was piloted by freshman setter Hannah Hoffman (Parker, Colo. / Ponderosa) who tallied a match-high 45 assists, the most by an individual at RMU in its past 70 matches. Hoffman also added five aces, including three during Robert Morris' crucial nine-point stretch in the fifth set, eight digs and three kills on just four attempts without an error.  Hoffman's five aces were also the highest single-match total for a Colonial since Oct. 2, 2009 while RMU's 11 aces as a team were the program's best output since August 2009.

The teams started the match relatively close, evenly splitting the first 18 points, before RMU grabbed a slight edge, 14-12, past the halfway mark. All of the sudden, Coastal Carolina caught fire, claiming nine straight rallies, to take a seven-point lead, providing the Chanticleers with the opening set's final margin of victory.

The second set's beginning resembled the first as the score was deadlocked after 22 points, but Coastal Carolina then strung together three consecutive points to take a 14-11 lead. The Chanticleers still led by three, 18-15, with the set winding down when RMU began its comeback. Robert Morris then proceeded to win 11 of the next 16 exchanges, despite two Coastal Carolina timeouts, to claim the set with eight of the team's 11 points during the run coming via a kill. Veith provided three during the stretch as did Monger as the junior's trio gave RMU each of its final three points of the set. The second stanza was a back-and-forth affair that featured 11 ties and seven lead changes.

After the tight openings of each of the first two sets, RMU ran away with the third game relatively early. The Colonials won each of the first five points and soon utilized a 9-2 run to take a double-digit lead, 16-6. This wide cushion enabled RMU to cruise to the third-set victory, 25-15, as the Colonials never trailed and hit an imposing .440 in the set after hitting .375 in the second set.

Robert Morris fought back from a three-point deficit early in the fourth set to take a 12-11 lead, but the Chanticleers won five consecutive points to open a 16-12 edge. With RMU trailing 21-16, the Colonials worked their way back into the set, pulling within a single point three times, but Coastal Carolina was able to eke out a 25-23 victory to force a decisive fifth set.

With the momentum on its side, Coastal Carolina won four straight points early in the fifth set to take a 6-4 advantage. However, Robert Morris finally was able to take command of the two-plus hour match by winning nine consecutive exchanges--Hoffman, three aces, junior opposite hitter Amanda Craig (Houston, Texas / St. Agnes Academy), two kills and a block, and Monger, one kill and a solo block, all played crucial roles during the match-deciding run. A kill by freshman outside hitter Erica Robb (Novi, Mich. / Novi) sealed the match five points later as RMU took the final set, 15-9. The Colonials held the Chanticleers to a .000 hitting percentage in the final set, helped in part by three blocks from freshman middle blocker Becky Jay (Parma, Ohio / Padua Franciscan) in the fifth game alone.

Freshman libero Melissa Bograd (Lemont, Ill. / Lemont) helped the RMU cause by recording a match-high tying 19 digs and was one of four Colonials to reach double-figures in that department. Along with Bograd and Monger, Craig and junior defensive specialist Andrea Catucci (Davidsonville, Md. / Archbishop Spalding) both hit double-digits by each registering 11 digs.

The victory over Coastal Carolina was the first in program history for RMU in just the second-ever meeting between the schools.

After playing over 200 points Friday night, RMU will be forced to turn right back around and play the tournament's opening match Saturday morning. The Colonials will face fellow Keystone State foe Lehigh for the third time in four seasons Saturday at 10:00 a.m. and will then conclude the Invitational by tangling with host James Madison Saturday at 7:30 p.m.