Volleyball | 10/26/2017 9:08:00 AM

MOON TOWNSHIP, Pa. -- The Robert Morris University volleyball team will try to keep pace in the race for a berth in the NEC Tournament when it visits Northeast Conference rival Sacred Heart University for a 6:00 p.m. first serve at the William H. Pitt Center in Fairfield, Conn. Friday. The Colonials continue conference play Saturday when they travel to Fairleigh Dickinson University. First serve from the Rothman Center in Hackensack, N.J. is set for 4:00 p.m.

RMU raised eyebrows with a sweep of defending NEC regular-season champion Sacred Heart Sept. 29, the first match ever held at the North Athletic Complex, the temporary home of the Colonials. Robert Morris followed with another straight-set victory over visiting FDU in the teams' last meeting Sept. 30 and is now 30-7 all-time against Fairleigh Dickinson. The Colonials lead SHU by half a game for fourth place, and the top six teams in the NEC are separated by just two games.

COMPLETE NOTES PACKAGE: Robert Morris at Sacred Heart and Fairleigh Dickinson (10/27/17-10/28/17)

Last Time Out
The Colonials avenged a pair of road losses to their Brooklyn-area rivals back in the friendly confines of the North Athletic Complex. Last Friday, Robert Morris roared past LIU Brooklyn 3-1 (25-23, 23-25, 25-23, 25-20) behind a team-high 17 kills from Emma Granger. RMU then took care of St. Francis Brooklyn in four sets (25-19, 25-15, 21-25, 25-14), its fourth consecutive win in the NAC, led by 13 kills from fellow freshman middle blocker Maria Alfano and a team-best 16 digs from senior setter Brianna Frakes.



Chasing History
With 2,978 all-time assists, Frakes is on pace this weekend to become the fourth player in RMU 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 Robert Morris 2011-2014.

Scouting The Opponents
Sacred Heart (10-11, 4-4), like RMU, is trying to peak at the right time. The Pioneers just defeated host FDU in straight sets last Friday for their third Northeast Conference win in a row and have taken nine of their last ten sets. Redshirt junior outside hitter Makayla Dole led the visitors with 15 kills and hit at a .382 clip. Dole recorded a match-high 16 kills against the Colonials in their earlier contest, and her 3.54 kills per set rank third in the NEC.

Fairleigh Dickinson (5-18, 1-7) closes out an eight-match homestand in search of its first conference victory since an Oct. 13 sweep of St. Francis Brooklyn when RMU comes to town. Freshman setter/right side hitter McKenna Sutterland, who finished with 23 assists and nine digs in the last meeting with Robert Morris, ranks fourth in the NEC with 8.10 assists per set.

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

Ready-For-Prime-Time Players
To the victor, indeed, went the spoils, as two Colonials were recognized as NEC Prime Performers for their heroism in back-to-back wins. Brianna Frakes was named Molten/NEC Player of the Week, and Emma Granger, for the fourth time in her debut season, received Molten/NEC Rookie of the Week honors. Frakes finished with back-to-back double-doubles versus LIU and St. Francis Brooklyn (42 assists, 14 digs and 38 assists, 16 digs, respectively) and now has three of those consecutively and a team-high nine on the year. Granger recorded a team-best five total blocks against SFBK while attacking at a team-high .455 clip against SFBK and hitting .390 for the weekend. In addition, her five service aces in the two Robert Morris victories vaulted her to second in Division I with 51 altogether in 2017.

All About The Ace
Another newcomer, outside hitter Alyson Londot, who also has an NEC Rookie of the Week award to her credit, has emerged as a threat in the Colonials' service rotation as well. Londot is second on the team behind Granger with 30 aces this year, which currently ranks fourth in the Northeast Conference, and she racked up a personal single-match best four aces against St. Francis Brooklyn last Saturday.

Maria!
Another local success story like that of Jefferson Hills' Yurkovich is being authored by Maria Alfano, who has complemented Emma Granger quite nicely at the middle blocker spot in her own rookie campaign. After winning a district championship with Seneca Valley H.S., Alfano has climbed all the way to fourth in the NEC with a .290 hitting percentage, and she has led RMU in kills and/or blocks in four straight matches and five of the last six.

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