Youngstown, Ohio - Senior captain Hannah Veith (Columbus, Ohio / Worthington) recorded a remarkable 12 blocks in just four sets, helping the Robert Morris University volleyball team to one of its best team blocking performances in recent history along with a 25-14, 20-25, 25-15, 25-18 victory over Youngstown State in its final non-conference road match of the season Tuesday evening at the Beeghly Center.

A day after earning RMU's first-ever Molten/Northeast Conference (NEC) Defender of the Week honor for posting 13 blocks in 10 sets this past weekend, Veith nearly equaled that tournament total in one match alone Tuesday night. Her 12 blocks, a staggering six of which came in the final set alone, were the most by a Colonial in a match since Rachel Leitch tallied 14 in a five-set victory September 13, 2003--a span of more than eight years.

"It was a good win," head coach Dale Starr said. "It was nice to grab our first road win of the season, and we earned it with a strong performance on the court. Obviously, our blocking totals were fantastic, but I was also pleased with how we were able to extend the leads we did have and improve on finishing off games. This was a good building block for us as we head into NEC play this weekend."

Although she led the charge, Veith was just one of a handful of Colonials to contribute to rejecting the Penguin attacks Tuesday as RMU collected 18 blocks as a team. It marked the most blocks by a Robert Morris squad in its past 244 regular-season matches--although similar to Veith's individual mark, the last time RMU posted a mark that high was in a five-set affair.

Junior opposite hitter Amanda Craig (Houston, Texas / St. Agnes Academy) posted six blocks, the most since her freshman campaign, while a trio of freshmen also significantly aided the effort. Middle blocker Becky Jay (Parma, Ohio / Padua Franciscan) and outside hitter Erica Robb (Novi, Mich. / Novi) added five blocks while setter Hannah Hoffman (Parker, Colo. / Ponderosa) tallied four as Robb reset her season high and Hoffman tied her previous top mark.

The blocking department wasn't the only category in which Veith reached double figures as she also tallied 11 kills to register her second-career double-double, and first in regular-season play. She committed just a single hitting error (and zero blocking errors) to post a dazzling .667 hitting percentage, a figure she has only exceeded once in collegiate competition when reaching double-digit kills.

Craig led the squad with a team-high 14 kills as her sizzling offensive play this past weekend showed no signs of letting up. She made only three hitting errors to hit .478 and has now hit at a .440 clip or better in three of her past four matches. Craig's 14 kills were her third-highest single-match total as a Colonial and best ever mark away from home.

After the teams split the opening six exchanges of the match, Robert Morris won five straight points, helped by a kill and an ace from junior outside hitter Lindsey Monger (Rising Sun, Md. / Rising Sun), to prompt a Penguin timeout. RMU still led by five, 11-6, when it used an 8-3 run to take complete control of the opener with a double-digit cushion and cruised to the lead in the match.

Youngstown State responded quickly in the second set, winning eight of the first 11 points to take a five-point advantage. RMU tried to battle back and pulled within two points on five occasions, but the Penguins refused to budge and held on to the lead for the remainder of the game to even the match.

RMU won three straight points early in the third set to take a 6-3 edge, a lead which it would maintain for the duration of the game. The teams would split the ensuing four rallies before Robert Morris won five more in a row, aided by two kills and a block from Craig, to open up a 13-5 advantage. The Colonials would lead by at least seven and as many as 11 the rest of the way in coasting to the set win.

The opening of the fourth set was nearly identical to the first as RMU won five straight points to break a 3-3 tie yet again. The Colonials extended their lead to seven at the 14-7 mark, led by at least five and as many as 11 the rest of the way and finished the match in the most fitting of ways when Monger used a solo block to complete the proceedings.

Monger finished with a match-high 13 digs, seven kills and two aces and has now notched double-figure kills or digs (or both) in 10 of her past 11 matches.

Along with her five blocks, Robb put down nine kills and tallied seven digs while Hoffman guided the RMU offense with 38 assists and added three kills on nine attempts.

Veith, who has now tallied at least 10 kills in eight of her past 11 matches, moved into sole possession of fifth place on RMU's all-time total block list with her career performance Tuesday as she moved her cumulative total to 339.

Robert Morris will remain on the road as it opens NEC play this weekend with a pair of matches. The Colonials will face Long Island Saturday, Sept. 25, at 1:00 p.m. before meeting St. Francis (N.Y.) Sunday, Sept. 26.