Moon Township, Pa. – The Robert Morris University volleyball team dropped their home-opening match at the Charles L. Sewall Center 20-25, 15-25, 25-18, and 21-25 to cross-state foe Bucknell Friday evening.

Senior Lindsey Monger (Rising Sun, Md. / Rising Sun) paced the Colonials with a team-high fourteen kills and seventeen points.  Freshman Kristin Thompson (Monroe, Ohio / Bishop Fenwick) held a game-high attacking percentage of .400 - five kills, one error, ten attempts - while getting credited with a team high two solo blocks in the match.  Sophomore Hannah Hoffman (Parker, Colo. / Ponderosa) earned a game-high twenty-five assists while making seven digs against the Bison.  Fellow sophomore Becky Jay (Parma, Ohio / Pauda Franciscan) registered a game-high three service aces as well as a team-high four block assists.

In the first set, neither team gained an advantage as the lead switched hands multiple times.  It wasn't until the midway point of the set that either team held a three point advantage and it was the visiting Bison up 14-11.  The Colonials made a run, obtaining seven of the next ten points to go up on Bucknell 18-17 on the strength of Jay's serving.  That was the last lead Robert Morris would hold in the set as the Bison went on an 8-3 run of their own to close out the set 20-25.

The second set saw RMU open up a quick lead behind the services of Jay and Monger.  The lead would be short-lived as Bucknell came out of a time out and managed to rattle off a 21-8 run to close out the Colonials 15-25 in the second set.  Out of the Bucknell time out - called with a 6-4 RMU advantage - the Colonials would allow the Bison gain multiple points by a single server on four different occasions.  During that same stretch, Robert Morris only held serve twice, both times with Monger toeing the line.  Neither of those two occurances allowed the Colonials to gain more than one point.

Coming out of the locker room to start the third set, senior Andrea Catucci (Davidsonville, Md. / Archbishop Spalding) made her first appearance as the libero this season.  Catucci contributed five digs and a service ace to a Robert Morris team looking to win their first set of the season.  RMU took the early lead at 4-3 and never looked back.  Behind the blocking strength of senior Una Japundza (Rovinj, Croatia / Zvane Crnja) and Jay, the Colonials amassed seven blocks in the set as they cruised to a 25-18 win.  Fellow senior Monger also came up big as she hit .500 - five kills in ten attempts - in the third set.

Hoping to force a fifth set, the Colonials never found the consistency they had in the previous set.  Bucknell opened a quick 3-0 advantage as Robert Morris never held a share of the lead in the final set.  On multiple occasions, RMU was able to pull to within two points, but unforced errors ultimately saw the team drop its fourth match of the season as it lost the set 21-25.

he Colonials will wrap up hosting the Duquesne / Robert Morris Invitational Saturday with two games.  Robert Morris will open the day against Norfolk State at 11:00 a.m. before concluding against Providence at 7:00 p.m.

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