Pittsburgh, Pa. – Despite taking a 1-0 match lead, the Robert Morris University volleyball team dropped a 3-1 decision to the Lehigh Mountain Hawks on Friday afternoon in the opening match of the Panther Challenge, hosted by Pitt in the Fitzgerald Fieldhouse.

Senior Arden Fisher extended her match streak with a double-double to 11 in 11 matches played, and paced the Colonials with 12 kills and 20 digs. She added two block assists and one service ace. Sophomore Brianna Schmid posted her third double-digit kill effort in five matches with 10, and recorded four block assists to match junior Deja Tamlin and freshman Kendra Harlow's front-row defense. Senior April Krivoniak and sophomore libero Allie Yurkovich tallied doule-digit digs to combine for 23.

Robert Morris (6-6) opened the fourth set on a 5-1 run, but Lehigh (4-7) responded with seven unanswered points to pull ahead, 8-5. The lead changed twice and tied on five occasions as both teams battled for points. Robert Morris trailed by one at 16-15, and Lehigh went on an 8-1 streak to try and take control of the set. RMU pushed back with three straight points, including a block from Schmid and Krivoniak, which forced Lehigh to call timeout. Robert Morris never settled, and fended off three Lehigh match point opportunities, but eventually fell to the Mountain Hawks, 25-22.

Robert Morris fell behind early in set three, but used a 4-1 run to cut the Mountain Hawks' lead to three, 18-15. A block from Schmid rattled Lehigh and forced the Mountain Hawks to commit errors on the next two plays, which tied the set at 21. Coming out of a Lehigh timeout, the Mountain Hawks scored four of the next six points to claim a close third set, 25-23, and go up, 2-1.

Lehigh led by as many as 12 points in the second set. With the Mountain Hawks ahead, 19-7, the Colonials ripped off a 7-1 run, sparked by a kill from Schmid, and sliced the Lehigh lead in half. Robert Morris managed to reach within five points, but Lehigh's dominant start to the set prevailed and the Mountain Hawks tied the match, 1-1.

Both teams needed time to adjust to one another's style of play in a back-and-forth first set. Although Robert Morris posted just 11 kills to Lehigh's 17 in the opening frame, Lehigh committed seven attack errors compared to RMU's one, which put the Mountain Hawks at an early disadvantage. Lehigh rallied at the end of set one with an 8-2 run to tie the set at 24, but a Krivoniak kill and another Mountain Hawks miscue helped RMU push two and secure the match lead.

Robert Morris continues action at the Panther Challenge on Saturday, Sept. 17 with Western Kentucky at noon and host university Pitt at 7 p.m.
 
 
TRENDING
Senior Arden Fisher has posted double-doubles in all 11 matches played on the season thus far. Her streak of 11 matches with a double-double to start a season marks the longest season-opening streak  in Robert Morris history since Megan Bell in 2004 (seven). Fisher currently ranks second nationally in digs per set (5.95).
 
MILESTONE WATCH
Head coach Dale Starr is two wins shy of his 100^th career victory as head coach of the Robert Morris volleyball program, and six victories short of his 200^th career win at the Division I level.

 
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