Volleyball | 10/18/2017 10:57:00 PM

MOON TOWNSHIP, Pa. -- The Robert Morris University volleyball team will try to bounce back from another pair of road losses when it hosts Northeast Conference rival LIU Brooklyn for a 7:00 p.m. first serve at the North Athletic Complex Friday. The Colonials are back in action Saturday at 5:00 p.m. for another NEC rematch, this time with visiting St. Francis Brooklyn providing the competition.

RMU fell 3-2 to the reigning NEC postseason champions Oct. 6 despite rallying from 2-0 down to tie, but they were victorious when LIU last came to town with a sweep at the Sewall Center Oct. 9, 2016. Robert Morris, similarly, defeated St. Francis Brooklyn on its last visit, a 3-1 result last Oct. 8 that was also head coach Dale Starr's 100th win with the program. The Colonials are looking to avenge an SFBK upset by the same score back on Oct. 7 at the Genovesi Center.

Friday, Oct. 20 vs. LIU Brooklyn (7:00 p.m.)
Saturday, Oct. 21 vs. St. Francis Brooklyn (5:00 p.m.)
COMPLETE NOTES PACKAGE: Robert Morris vs. LIU Brooklyn and St. Francis Brooklyn (10/20/17-10/21/17)

Last Time Out
Robert Morris momentarily stopped the bleeding by dominating the third set but could not muster more in a four-set setback (21-25, 21-25, 25-15, 21-25) at Central Connecticut last Saturday. Standing out in the losing effort was senior setter Brianna Frakes, whose season-high 53 assists were just two shy of her career best and whose ten digs gave her her seventh double-double of 2017. One day earlier, NEC standings leader Bryant took down the visiting Colonials in straight sets (21-25, 21-25, 23-25). Freshman middle blocker Maria Alfano registered eight kills to lead RMU.

Chasing History
With 2,898 all-time assists, Frakes is on pace this year to become just the fourth player in Robert Morris history to reach 3,000. She began her collegiate career as an understudy to Hannah Hoffman, who became the most recent Colonial to collect that many helpers (3,606 total) while playing for RMU 2011-14.

Scouting The Opponents
LIU Brooklyn (12-8, 5-2), coming off a 3-1 victory at Fairleigh Dickinson last Saturday, has won four of its last five matches. The Blackbirds are perfect at home but only 4-5 on the road. Sophomore libero Natalia Rivera, currently second in the conference with 5.27 digs per set, was named an NEC Prime Performer for averaging 6.25 per set against FDU and Sacred Heart. She led all players with 26 in her last meeting with the Colonials.

St. Francis Brooklyn (7-15, 1-6), which is coming off a pair of straight-set losses at FDU and SHU, visits Saint Francis University Friday at 7:00 p.m. en route to Robert Morris. Senior outside hitter Aleksandra Gligoric was named an NEC Prime Performer for averaging 4.67 kills per set in those two matches. She now leads the conference with 4.07 per set on the season and had a match-high 18 the last time the Terriers faced RMU.

About Robert Morris
The Colonials were predicted to finish in fifth place in the 2017 NEC Preseason Coaches' Poll. RMU missed qualifying for its 18th consecutive NEC Tournament by just one game last season. In each of the last 18 seasons, the Colonials have posted a winning record in league competition, which stands as the longest such streak of any NEC member, past or present.

MUSKET SHOTS

Ace of Club
In addition to her run-of-play prowess, Emma Granger has emerged as the biggest threat in Starr's service rotation. The Dalton, Ohio native leads the team and conference with 46 service aces, putting her fourth in Division I in that category. Granger has finished with five aces in a match four separate times, most recently in a straight-sets victory over Fairleigh Dickinson Sept. 30. At Central Connecticut last Saturday she became just the eighth different Colonial all-time to register six aces in a match and the first since Una Japundza did it Sept. 25, 2011 at St. Francis Brooklyn. Robert Morris, as a team, leads the NEC with 155 on the year and ranks third nationally with 1.87 per set.

Hall-of-Famer
Former RMU standout Amanda Graham will be inducted into the Robert Morris Athletic Hall of Fame in February, it was announced this week. A three-time All-NEC First Team selection (2007, 2009, 2010), Graham ranks third all-time at Robert Morris in attack percentage (.331) and total blocks (438). At the conclusion of her career she also owned the career record for block assists with 358. Graham, a native of Melbourne, Fla., also ranks seventh with 1,107 career kills. She also owns RMU single-game records for attack percentage (.792) and aces (seven). As a senior in 2010, Graham became the first female student-athlete in school history, regardless of sport, to be named an Academic All-American by the College Sports Information Directors of America (CoSIDA) when she was named to the second team. She is also one of just three student-athletes in program history to earn All-NEC First Team accolades at least three times, joining current RMU Athletic Hall of Fame Members Katie Noble and Megan Bell.

Digging Deep
Of the four Western Pennsylvania Interscholastic Athletic League (WPIAL) alumnae on the roster, junior libero Allie Yurkovich is the one who, defensively, has jumped off the page the most--a page of the RMU record book, to be exact. The former Thomas Jefferson star eclipsed 1,000 career digs in RMU's 3-1 win at Saint Francis University Sept. 22 and she enters Friday seventh in program history with 1,086. She also ranks seventh in the NEC with 3.53 digs per set, having appeared in every stanza for Robert Morris thus far (83) after doing so each of the last two seasons. Meanwhile, outside hitter and fellow junior Taylor Lord, currently No. 11 in RMU history, needs just seven more this weekend to reach the 1,000 career mark. Lord had 22 and Yurkovich 20 the last time they met LIU Brooklyn Oct. 6.

Follow the Colonials: Facebook | Twitter | Instagram