Kent, Ohio – The Robert Morris University volleyball team saw its three-game winning streak halted by Kent State, as the Colonials fell to the Golden Flashes, 3-0, Tuesday evening at the M.A.C. Center.

Senior middle blocker and this week's Molten/NEC Defensive Player of the Week, Leah Dunivan paced the Colonials with 10 kills at a .529 clip and four block assists. Senior April Krivoniak added seven kills and one block. Sophomore Liz Campbell and junior Brianna Frakes combined for 26 assists. Sophomore Allie Yurkovich posted a team-leading 18 digs.

With their sights set on forcing a game four, the Colonials (4-3) fell behind early in the third, but Yurkovich settled into the service area and helped RMU to an 8-6 lead. Robert Morris led by as many as three points on three separate occasions, but the Golden Flashes (4-3) forged ahead, 15-14, on a service ace from junior Challen Geraghty. Kent State followed up with a big block and a kill on the two subsequent plays, and pulled ahead by three.

As the Golden Flashes continued to increase their lead, Robert Morris cashed in on three consecutive Kent State errors, which tied the set at 21. The home team called timeout to regroup, and notched the next four points to claim victory.

Despite a slow start in the opening frame, the Colonials started set two with a four-point run to a 5-3 lead. Both squads traded points and leads back and forth until freshman middle blocker Kendra Harlow put the ball down through the Kent State block and knotted the score at 10, one of seven tie scores in the set. The Golden Flashes responded with a 6-2 run to widen the gap, 16-12. The Colonials called timeout and came out of the break to score on a Dunivan tip, but Kent State continued to pressure the Robert Morris back row defense.

RMU's front row stepped up and provided a spark with a tandem block from Dunivan and junior Deja Tamlin to cut the Kent State advantage to one, 17-16, but the Golden Flashes went on another scoring spurt as the Colonials struggled to side out. Kent State closed the second set on a 7-1 run to a 2-0 match lead.

The Golden Flashes set the tone early with a 9-3 run to open action. The Colonials trimmed the Golden Flashes' lead to four toward the middle of the game, but fell short of a first set comeback.

Next up, the Colonials travel to Baltimore, Md., this weekend for the Maddie Bingaman Memorial Tournament, hosted by UMBC.
 
 
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Head coach Dale Starr is four wins shy of his 100^th career victory as head coach of the Robert Morris volleyball program, and eight victories short of his 200^th career win at the Division I level.
 
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