Match #1 – Saturday, October 25 – 1:00 PM
Robert Morris at Fairleigh Dickinson (4-17, 2-5 NEC)
Stratis Arena – Hackensack, N.J. Against the Knights – With a victory on Sept. 27 against Fairleigh Dickinson, the Colonials are now 24-7 and have won 20 of the last 21 meetings with the Knights. The lone loss in that timeframe came last season in RMU's regular-season finale.
Scouting Fairleigh Dickinson – The Knights currently are in a tie for sixth in the NEC with a conference mark of 2-5. Freshman outside hitter Carly O'Sullivan leads FDU offensively with 191 kills, while fellow rookie Alex Lolland and sophomore Caroline Laton also have tallied triple-digit kills with 152 and 140, respectively. Junior setter Allison Butler paces the Knights with 617 assists. Defensively, middle hitters Hanifa Addi and Laton have combined for 142 total blocks (24 solo, 118 assist).
Match #2 – Sunday, October 25 – 1:00 PM
Robert Morris at Sacred Heart (7-13, 2-5 NEC)
William H. Pitt Center – Fairfield, Conn. Against the Pioneers – The Colonials completed a weekend sweep in September with a 3-0 victory over Sacred Heart, improving their record to 19-6 against the Pioneers. RMU will look to buck the trend on Sunday as the two teams have split their series in the past five regular seasons.
Scouting Sacred Heart – The Pioneers are coming off a heartbreaking five-set loss to Central Connecticut State, dropping them to 2-5 in the NEC. In that match, SHU took the fourth set by a wild score of 46-44, which set a new NCAA Division I single-set scoring record. Sophomore right side Sarah Krufka and junior outside Tori Kemper are both over 200 kills with 245 and 218, respectively. Defensively, sophomore defensive specialist Ana Gonzalez paces the Pioneers with 290 digs, 135 more than second place. Gonzalez's classmate Jene Lee is the team leader in blocks with 52 (2 solo, 50 assist).
Looking Ahead – Robert Morris returns home on Halloween weekend to take on Central Connecticut State and Bryant. The Colonials beat both teams in an October series by identical 3-2 scores. Both matches played out similar as RMU won the first two sets, then dropped the following two to set a deciding fifth set that went the Colonials way.
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.
Know Your Enemy – It was a balanced effort in the Colonials' earlier meetings with Fairleigh Dickinson and Sacred Heart this season.
Against the Knights, four players collected eight or nine kills. Middle blockers
Leah Dunivan and
April Krivoniak each tallied nine kills on respective hitting percentages of .529 and .444. Seniors
Erica Robb and
Melissa Bograd each collected 18 digs, while Dunivan led RMU in blocks with 5 (1 solo, 4 assist).
Robb was one of four Colonials against the Pioneers who had six or more kills, as she led the team with nine on a .280 hitting percentage.
Arden Fisher collected an impressive 22 digs in the three-set victory, while
Becky Jay paced RMU in blocks with six (1 solo, 5 assist).
Blockin' Becky –
Becky Jay is on the cusp of history, as she sits six block assists away from breaking the program career record of 358 set by Amanda Graham. Jay became the fifth player in program history to reach 400 total blocks in an Oct. 11 victory at NJIT, and passed Janette Schneider last weekend for fourth place in that category with 415. She also ranks 10th in solo blocks with 62 and is one shy of tying Cyndi Dunslow for ninth.
Can't Knock the Hustle – The Colonials have hit their stride defensively since entering conference play, leading the NEC in blocks per set (2.79), total blocks (78.0), digs per set (18.46), and total digs (517). Individually,
Becky Jay and
Leah Dunivan are third in blocks per set (1.29) while
Melissa Bograd is also third in digs per set (4.54).
