Wednesday, October 15 – 7:00 PM
Robert Morris at Duquesne (9-9, 3-3 Atlantic 10)
A.J. Palumbo Center – Pittsburgh, Pa. Against the Dukes – Robert Morris is 5-24 against its Steel City rival Duquesne and will look to break a six-match skid this week against the Dukes. The Colonials' last win over Duquesne came on Sept. 25, 2007 in four sets. Tawnya Storino paced RMU with 59 assists and 10 digs, while Emily Wolthuis and Cassie Lee combined for 39 kills with 20 and 19, respectively. The Colonials fell to the Dukes in four sets last season, despite the best efforts of
Sydney Sizemore, who had a team-high 16 kills.
Scouting Duquesne – The Dukes enter this meeting with an overall record of 9-9 and a mark of 3-3 in Atlantic 10 play. Duquesne was crowned the champs of the Duquesne / Robert Morris Invitational in early September, and followed that up with two victories at the Panther Classic the week after. Senior middle hitter Arielle Love has been phenomenal in her last hurrah with the Dukes, tallying 225 kills on a .397 hitting percentage and 87 blocks (24 solo, 63 assist). Setting up Love the majority of the time has been junior Mary Henry, who has dished out 654 assists. Four different players (Patti Abshire, Sammy Kline, Molly Davet, and Henry) have collected at least 160 digs this season.
Looking Ahead – Robert Morris will return home this weekend for NEC matches with St. Francis Brooklyn and LIU-Brooklyn. The Colonials have dominated the Terriers in their history, winning 30 of 31 matches. In its history with the Blackbirds, RMU has held the upper hand with a 20-18 record. However, LIU-Brooklyn has been the victor more times than not lately, winning the last seven matches against the Colonials. RMU's last victory over the Blackbirds came in Sept. 24, 2011, behind a 18 kill, 14 dig effort from
Erica Robb.
Networking with the Colonials – Become a fan of the Colonials on Facebook by searching for the "Robert Morris Volleyball" page. Fans can also follow the Colonials on Twitter
@RMUVolleyball to get updates on the team throughout the season.
Blockin' Becky –
Becky Jay became the fifth player in program history to reach 400 total blocks as she collected six this past weekend against Saint Francis U. and NJIT. Jay joins Kristie Tuxford (460), Amanda Graham (438), Hannah Veith (422), and Janette Schneider (414) as those who have reached that mark.
Jay is also four block assists away from passing Vieth (342) for second place all-time in that category. Graham is the program's leader in block assists with 358.
Streakin' – The Colonials are currently on a six-match winning streak, dating back to Sept. 27 against Fairleigh Dickinson. A victory against St. Francis Brooklyn this Saturday would give RMU its longest stretch of wins under head coach
Dale Starr. Starr guided the Colonials to six consecutive victories in 2010 from Oct. 30 to Nov. 10.
Going the Distance – In the midst of Robert Morris' six consecutive victories also enlies another streak: four straight wins in five sets. The Colonials last won four five-set matches in 2010, but have never won four consecutive five-set games until this season.
