Smithfield, R.I. – The Robert Morris University volleyball team never fully recovered from a dominant start by Bryant and ultimately fell to the Bulldogs, 3-1, Saturday evening in the Chace Athletic Center.
 
The Colonials (10-11, 4-2) drop to 4-2 in Northeast Conference action, while the Bulldogs (14-10, 5-1) continue their steady climb toward the top of the league rankings.
 
Junior Arden Fisher notched a team-leading 15 kills and 19 digs for her 34^th career double-double and 12^th of the year. The Oakmont, Pa., native eclipsed 1,000 digs in tonight's match and is now the seventh student-athlete in RMU history to reach that benchmark. She ranks seventh on the Colonials' all-time list in career digs with 1,005.

Senior Kristin Thompson posted a double-digit effort in kills (10) for the fourth time in the last five matches and paced the defense with a team-high five total blocks.
 
Set three was the bright spot for the Colonials, as they opened the frame with a 6-2 surge. Bryant tied the set, 6-6, but RMU pushed right back and went ahead, 10-7. The Bulldogs held a brief lead at 15-13, and again at 19-18, but the Colonials continued to bear down and remained on top the rest of the set to close it out, 25-22.
 
Too many times the Colonials found themselves playing catch-up, however, and could never quite fully recover from the large deficits.
 
The home team started the game with a high level of energy and ripped off an 8-0 run to open the first set, which put the Colonials behind early and made it difficult for them to ever take charge of the match.
 
Bryant posted a .190 hitting percentage through four frames, as the Colonials managed to hit at .090 on the match. The Bulldogs committed five service errors as opposed to the Colonials' three, but were able to force six serve receive errors while only suffering two.
 
The Colonials head to New Britain, Conn., tomorrow where they will take on Central Connecticut State at 3 p.m.
 
 
Follow RMU volleyball on Facebook, Instagram and Twitter