Match #1 – Saturday, November 1 – 1:00 PM
Robert Morris vs. Central Connecticut State (8-12, 4-4 NEC)
Charles L. Sewall Center – Moon Township, Pa. Against the Blue Devils – Robert Morris snapped a three match losing streak to Central Connecticut State on Oct. 4 with a five-set victory in New Britain. The Colonials are now 18-10 against the Blue Devils all-time and will look to sweep Central Connecticut State in the regular season for the first time since 2012.
Scouting Central Connecticut State – The Blue Devils currently sit in a tie for fourth place in the Northeast Conference with victories over St. Francis Brooklyn, Sacred Heart, and two over Bryant. Junior setter turned outside hitter Makenna Lommori leads CCSU with 227 kills, with a school-record 38 of those coming in the Blue Devils' win over the Pioneers. Taking her place at setter is fellow junior Ashley Lenington, who has dished out 343 assists this season. Sophomore defensive specialist Rachel Fish paces CCSU in digs with 272, while senior middle hitter Rachel Dunlap leads in the conference in blocks per set with 1.23.
Match #2 – Sunday, November 1 – 1:00 PM
Robert Morris vs. Bryant (9-19, 4-4 NEC)
Charles L. Sewall Center – Moon Township, Pa. Against the Bulldogs – With a victory over Bryant on Oct. 5, Robert Morris stretched its winning streak to five over the Bulldogs. The Colonials are now 9-3 against Bryant all-time with their last loss coming on Nov. 5, 2011.
Scouting Bryant – The Bulldogs are in a tie with Central Connecticut State for fourth in the Northeast Conference, but the Blue Devils hold the tiebreaker with two victories over them. Bryant is led offensively by senior outside hitter Elena Lohr and sophomore middle blocker Sara DePouw, who are at 274 and 246 kills, respectively. Assisting on the majority of those attacks is freshman setter Vika Nesterov, who has dished out 814 helpers. Junior libero Debora Magalhaes paces the Bulldogs in digs with 543, almost twice as much as any other player. DePouw has been Bryant's most effective stopper up front with 76 blocks (5 solo, 71 assist).
Looking Ahead – Robert Morris finishes the home slate of its regular season schedule next weekend with a single match against Saint Francis U. on Saturday, Nov. 8. The Colonials will celebrate the careers of seven seniors after the contest as a part of Senior Day festivities. The match will also be RMU's
Dig Pink Match, which serves as a conference-wide initiative to promote breast cancer awareness.
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 –
Becky Jay collected her first career double-double in the Colonials' five-set victory over Central Connecticut State on Oct. 4, tallying 11 kills on a .348 hitting percentage with a then-career-high 11 blocks (3 solo, 8 assist).
Leah Dunivan hit at a .370 clip with a team-high 13 kills, while
Arden Fisher tallied 11 kills and 17 digs for a double-double.
Fisher was the catalyst behind RMU's success in its five-set victory against Bryant, falling one kill shy of the first 20-20 game since Lindsay Monger did it on Sept. 11, 2012 against West Virginia. Defensively, the Colonials were led by
Melissa Bograd, who collected a career-high 30 digs.
Blockin' Becky –
Becky Jay moved into first place for block assists this past weekend, passing Amanda Graham with six block assists against Fairleigh Dickinson. Jay followed up that performance with a career-high 12 blocks (2 solo, 10 assist) against Sacred Heart, moving her into third place for total blocks. The performance nabbed her NEC Defensive Player of the Week honors for the fifth time in her career, but her first since Nov. 5, 2012.
A Star is Born –
Kristin Thompson earned the NEC Player of the Week award on Monday, a well-deserved honor for the junior who has launched herself into conference stardom in October.
Since Oct. 10, Thompson has tallied 79 kills on an impressive .440 hitting percentage. She's hit over a .375 clip in six of her last seven matches, and has posted a .500 or better hitting percentage in three of her last four contests. Thompson has been stout defensively as well, collecting 38 blocks (6 solo, 32 assist) on an average of 1.46 per set.
Can't Knock the Hustle – The Colonials have hit their stride defensively since entering conference play, leading the NEC in blocks per set (3.16), total blocks (110.5), and total digs (636). RMU is also second in digs per set with a mark of 18.17 and opponent hitting percentage at .154.
Individually, in conference matches,
Kristin Thompson and
Becky Jay lead the NEC in blocks per set with respective marks of 1.56 and 1.54. Jay also paces the conference in total blocks (54.0) and block assists (47).
Melissa Bograd is third in total digs with 153 and fourth in digs per set with a mark of 4.37.
