Volleyball | 10/3/2017 11:12:00 PM
Friday, Oct. 6 at LIU Brooklyn (6:00 p.m.)
Saturday, Oct. 7 at St. Francis Brooklyn (4:00 p.m.)
Top Story
The
Robert Morris University volleyball team will try to extend streaks of four straight matches won, the longest active run in the Northeast Conference, and nine consecutive sets won when it visits defending NEC Tournament champion LIU Brooklyn for a 6:00 p.m. first serve at the Steinberg Wellness Center Friday. The Colonials will continue their string of four conference road matches at St. Francis Brooklyn Saturday, with first serve in that contest coming from the Genovesi Center at 4:00 p.m.
RMU has won all 14 matches from SFC since head coach
Dale Starr took the reins in 2010, most recently earning a 3-1 victory in Brooklyn, N.Y. Nov. 12, 2016 that included a 32-30 win in the second set. Starr, in fact, earned his 100th all-time win at Robert Morris against that same opponent earlier last season, on Oct. 8. The Colonials fell 3-1 in their last visit to LIU Brooklyn Nov. 13, 2016. Their last win there of any kind came in their own most recent NEC Tournament clincher, a 3-1 triumph on Nov. 22, 2015.
COMPLETE NOTES PACKAGE: Robert Morris at LIU Brooklyn and St. Francis Brooklyn (10/6/17-10/7/17)
Last Time Out
Robert Morris raised eyebrows with a 3-0 sweep (27-25, 26-24, 25-15) of Sacred Heart Fri., Sept. 29 at the North Athletic Complex, and the Colonials followed it up with a straight-set victory (26-24, 25-16, 25-23) over Fairleigh Dickinson Sat., Sept. 30 at the NAC. It was their first home win over SHU since another 3-0 triumph Sept. 28, 2014 that followed another straight-set decision over FDU. This year's win over FDU gave RMU its seventh in a row against the Knights. Junior outside hitter
Taylor Lord led Robert Morris with eight kills versus the Pioneers last Friday to go with seven digs, and she ramped it up last Saturday with 13 kills and eight digs.
Making History
The back-to-back wins for the Colonials last weekend were their first ever in the first matches ever held at the North Athletic Complex. The new on-campus facility for student recreation and fitness will temporarily house Robert Morris volleyball, among other RMU athletic programs, through the end of next season. Its longtime home, the Sewall Center, will be razed to make room for the UPMC Events Center, opening January of 2019.
Scouting the Opponents
LIU Brooklyn (9-7, 2-1) is coming off a 3-0 win over St. Francis Brooklyn, its fifth victory in its last six matches, in its NEC home opener. The Blackbirds feature sophomore libero and three-time Molten/NEC Defensive Player of the Week Natalia Rivera, who ranks second in the conference with 5.11 digs per set (317 total).
St. Francis Brooklyn (6-12, 0-3) is trying to break a three-match losing streak, with all three defeats coming in NEC road contests. Prior to hosting RMU, the Terriers will entertain Saint Francis U (Pa.) Friday at 4:00 p.m. Senior outside hitter Alexsandra Gregoric leads SFC and the NEC with 240 total kills (3.93 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
A Star(-r) is Born
Head coach
Dale Starr's 2017 recruiting class may truly be one to remember; so far, freshman middle blocker
Emma Granger is making certain of that. Granger, who was named Molten/NEC Rookie of the Week for the third time in four weeks, has emerged as Robert Morris's top newcomer. The Dalton, Ohio native supplanted teammate, outside hitter and Week Five winner
Alyson Londot for this week's award, coming off 14 kills and five service aces in the Sept. 30 win over FDU. She continues to lead the NEC in aces with 34, which tied for ninth in Division I after last weekend's action. It was her fourth time this season collecting five aces in a single match, delivering her last one on match point for RMU. Against SHU, Granger paced the Colonials with a .455 attacking percentage and six blocks. She leads Robert Morris and ranks second in the NEC with a .363 hitting average (among players with, minimally, 3.0 attacks per set), and she is sitting at No. 7 in the NEC in kills per set (3.05). Granger needs five kills this weekend to become the fifth NEC player to reach 200 this year.
In Her Prime
One of only two seniors on this historically young Colonials team, setter
Brianna Frakes has been one of its most consistent players, and this week, she, too, was named an NEC Prime Performer for her efforts against Sacred Heart and Fairleigh Dickinson. The only active Colonial to appear the last time Robert Morris swept both schools at home (Sept. 27-28, 2014), Frakes collected 34 assists and 12 digs versus FDU for her fifth double-double of the season. She was also one of six different RMU players to register an ace against the Knights, serving hers on a set point that put her team up 2-0. Furthermore, she barely missed another double-double in the win over SHU, ending with 29 helpers and nine digs. Frakes is pacing RMU with 8.08 assists per set, which ranks third in the Northeast Conference. She finished second in the NEC in assists per set (8.43) as a junior and led the conference in that category as a sophomore (9.14).
Let's See That Again!
Of the four local recruits on the 2017 Colonials roster, junior libero/defensive specialist
Allie Yurkovich is the one who, recently, has stood out the most on paper--and on film. The former Western Pennsylvania Interscholastic Athletic League (WPIAL) standout eclipsed 1,000 career digs in RMU's 3-1 win at Saint Francis University Sept. 22. She leads the team and ranks seventh in the NEC with 3.63 digs per set, having appeared in every stanza for Robert Morris thus far after doing so each of the last two seasons. Her greater claim to fame, however, has been an unconscious kill, only her second of the year, set up by
Taylor Lord against Sacred Heart Sept. 29, video of which was posted by NCAA Volleyball social media as one of its Play of the Week nominees and can be seen here:
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