Pittsburgh, Pa. – The Robert Morris University volleyball team stepped out of Northeast Conference action for one final time in the regular season as they faced cross-town rival Pittsburgh on Tuesday evening.  The Colonials would fall to the city rival in straight sets by the scores of 20-25, 17-25, and 12-25.

To open the match, RMU would take an early 6-5 lead before the Panthers would take the next five points forcing the Colonials to take their first timeout of the set down 6-10.  The Colonials would battle back and come within a point of Pitt with the score 17-18 after senior Lindsey Monger (Rising Sun, Md. / Rising Sun) recorded two straight kills.  The run by RMU would force the Panthers would call their first timeout of the set.  Out of the timeout, Pittsburgh would take four of the next five points to bring its lead back to four with the score 18-22 before Robert Morris would call its final timeout of the set.  RMU would drop the first set by a score of 20-25.  In the set, senior Amanda Craig (Houston, Texas / St. Agnes Academy) would lead the attack with four kills.

In the second set of the match, the Colonials would respond from an early deficit to tie the set at five points each.  The Panthers would not allow RMU to take the lead however as they would take six of the next seven points to put the Colonials down by five with the score 6-11.  After two consecutive attacking attempts were blocked, the Colonials would take their first timeout of the set.  Out of the timeout, Robert Morris would take three of the next four points to cut the team's deficit.  The Panthers would push their lead to seven points with the score 13-20 before the Colonials would take their second timeout of the set.  Robert Morris would gather itself and obtain three of the next four points to pull within five with the score 16-21.  The run by the Colonials would force Pittsburgh to call its first timeout.  The Colonials would drop the second set by a score of 17-25 after allowing four of the final five points.  In the second set, freshman Kristin Thompson (Monroe, Ohio / Bishop Fenwick) paced the Colonials with a set-high five kills on six attempts. 

The two teams would share the first eight points before the Panthers would take the next three points to take the early advantage.  Pittsburgh would grow their lead to five points with the score 7-12, forcing Robert Morris to take their first timeout of the set.  Out of the timeout, the Colonials would dig a deeper hole as unforced errors would expand the deficit to ten points with the score 8-18 before the team would use their second timeout.  RMU would drop the third set by a score of 12-25.  Middle blocker Becky Jay (Parma, Ohio / Padua Franciscan) recorded two block assists in the final set.

In the match, Craig would tally eight kills while Monger and Thompson would each record five kills.  Hannah Hoffman (Parker, Colo. / Ponderosa) would have a hand in 26 of the team's 29 kills as she assisted on 24 of them while tallying two kills as well.  Senior Andrea Catucci (Davidsonville, Md. / Archbishop Spalding) paced the Colonial defense with nine digs while Jay would contribute on each of the team's four blocks against the Panthers.

The Colonials will return to action on Saturday as they conclude their NEC regular-season play with two games in Brooklyn, N.Y.  On Saturday, Robert Morris will take on St. Francis (N.Y.) at 1:00 p.m. before concluding play on Sunday with a match at LIU-Brooklyn which is also scheduled for 1:00 p.m.