MOON TOWNSHIP, Pa. -- The Robert Morris volleyball team may have experienced its share of road woes, but the 2017 edition is developing a knack for the NAC.

The Colonials (10-13, 4-4) snapped a four-match skid and won for the third time in as many tries in their stopgap home court, defeating LIU Brooklyn 3-1 (25-23, 23-25, 25-23, 25-20) Friday night. Robert Morris avenged an earlier five-set setback to the visiting Blackbirds (12-9, 5-3) that went down at the Steinberg Wellness Center Oct. 6.

Led by 42 assists and 14 digs from senior setter Brianna Frakes, who produced her eighth double-double of the season, RMU also kept itself within reach of a spot in the NEC Tournament with under a month of regular-season play remaining. The Colonials now own victories over four of the teams with whom they are jostling for one of those four positions.

Frakes now needs just 60 more helpers in the team's final seven scheduled matches, four of which are at the North Athletic Complex, to become the fourth player in program history to reach 3,000 for her career.

She shares the team lead in double-doubles with outside hitter Alyson Londot, an early Molten/NEC Rookie of the Week honoree, who, on this night, had to "settle" for 25 digs, six kills and, for the fourth time in a single match this year, three service aces.

LIU asserted itself early, but the Blackbirds would see their wings clipped when Robert Morris rallied for five straight points to take a 24-21 first-set lead it would not relinquish, including a pair of kills by middle blocker Emma Granger. The erstwhile three-time conference rookie of the week paced RMU with 17 kills, hitting at a team-best .351 clip.

Frakes would complete the opening-set triumph with a kill of her own, and she would go on to set up Granger for the clinching point in the third set, a back-and-forth battle that saw the Colonials trailing 20-17 until a well-timed timeout by head coach Dale Starr reversed momentum. Maria Alfano and Liz Campbell, defensively, sparked a 6-1 run that put their team in front to stay, and the duo combined for nine total blocks and 17 kills on the night.

RMU took an apparent stranglehold on the match by jumping out to a 10-4 advantage in the fourth set, punctuated by the first of two aces by Granger, the conference leader in that category entering Friday. The Colonials, hardly removing their collective foot from the accelerator, ran it all the way up to 24-16 before the stubbornness of last year's NEC flag-bearers finally kicked in.

Granger, following another timeout by the hosts, nipped the comeback bid in the bud with her final kill on match point.

While Frakes continues chasing history, meanwhile, outside hitter Taylor Lord made it. Lord topped the 1,000 career dig mark, becoming the 11th player in Robert Morris history to do so, by registering 12 of those versus LIU.

Fellow junior Allie Yurkovich, who also reached that milestone in a four-set win on Sept. 22 at Saint Francis University, led RMU with 26.

The Colonials seek further redemption against their Brooklyn-area rivals when they host St. Francis Brooklyn Saturday, with first serve scheduled for 5:00 p.m.

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