FAIRFIELD, Conn. -- With the rare 3,000 career assist mark safely in tow, senior setter Brianna Frakes had only one thing on her mind as the Robert Morris volleyball team forced a fifth set at Sacred Heart Friday night: finish what they started.

"We all had the mindset we were going to win that game," Frakes said.

The Colonials (12-13, 6-4) did so in incredible fashion, climbing out of a 2-0 hole and holding off the determined Pioneers (10-12, 4-5) for a huge 3-2 victory (23-25, 23-25, 25-22, 25-20, 18-16) at the William Pitt Center. It is the third RMU win in a row and its first five-set win since the final match of the Valley Forge Invitational against host La Salle Sept. 9.

On that note, it is also a sign of maturity shown by a Robert Morris squad eight freshmen deep that had recently found road wins elusive in a tight Northeast Conference postseason race. RMU is tied with Saint Francis University, which visits the Colonials next Friday, for the fourth and final NEC Tournament berth.

They defeated SFU Sept. 22 for the first of those NEC road wins.

"I think we had a lot of the young people step up and really help us out," Frakes said. "We all kind of came together."

The reigning Molten/NEC Player of the Week attributes her achievement to that camaraderie, as she became just the fourth Robert Morris player all-time to register 3,000 assists, joining Darcey Miller, Tawnya Storino and former teammate Hannah Hoffman in that camp. She also collected her team-best tenth double-double of the year with 44 helpers and 15 digs.

"I couldn't have done it without the team," Frakes said. "I'm giving them the ball. They're the ones putting it away."

The aforementioned youngsters assumed that responsibility. Former Seneca Valley (Cranberry Twp., Pa.) H.S. star Maria Alfano led the Colonials attack with 18 kills and a .436 average. This was the fifth consecutive match in which Alfano paced RMU in kills and/or total blocks.

Fellow middle blocker and four-time NEC Rookie of the Week Emma Granger gradually ramped up her game to finish with 13 kills and ten total blocks, adding a pair of service aces to bolster her conference lead in said category. Another newcomer, outside hitter Alyson Londot, recorded 13 digs, six kills and the point that finally capped the dramatic comeback.

Joining Frakes and Granger in the double-double club was Taylor Lord, one week removed from making her 1,000th career dig. The junior outside hitter chipped in ten more to go with ten kills.

Robert Morris, the NEC team leader in attack average, outhit SHU .219 to .168 despite its tough start. The Colonials flashed their refuse-to-lose attitude early and often but couldn't quite close out the Pioneers until the third set, when Frakes, on top of everything else, delivered a couple late kills to help the visitors put the middle frame out of reach.

"We stepped up our mentality and made some adjustments," she explained. "We started letting go of the errors we made in the first two sets, which is how we came back."

She aided an early 5-2 RMU outburst in the fourth set, and Alfano helped give the Colonials a 10-8 advantage, which Sacred Heart promptly erased on a 5-1 tear. Undaunted, Robert Morris ripped off seven of nine points to retake the lead, then it took the final five points to even the match, including kills by Alfano, Granger then Lord on set point.

An ace by Lord tied the fifth set, 4-4, after the Colonials had fallen behind, 3-1. This was the first of 12 ties they had to endure in the last stanza, and an SHU miscue forced by Granger to make it 6-5 in their favor marked the first of seven lead changes. Robert Morris eventually pulled ahead 12-10, forcing a Sacred Heart timeout, but the Pioneers responded with three consecutive points to make the Colonials burn one.

Their only other senior, outside hitter Deja Tamlin, tied the score and Granger gave the Colonials a short-lived lead, as Sacred Heart stayed alive on three match points in a row.

A well-timed block by Londot gave the Colonials another chance to savor an emotional victory, which they did when she, set up by Lord, went upstairs and over the Pioneers' front row.

RMU plays its last scheduled NEC road match Saturday at Fairleigh Dickinson, with first serve coming at 4:00 p.m.

"We needed the win. We're going to enjoy it a bit," Frakes said, "but we know we've got to come in and do work tomorrow."

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