Volleyball | 8/24/2017 4:00:00 PM

Robert Morris Colonials (0-0, 0-0 NEC) at Butler Tournament 
Friday, August 25, 2017 // 9 a.m. vs. Stony Brook (0-0) // Live Stats
Friday, August 25, 2017 // 4:30 p.m. vs. Eastern Michigan (0-0) // Live Stats
Saturday, August 26, 2017 // 11:30 a.m. at Butler (0-0) // Live Stats
Saturday, August 26, 2017 // 4:30 p.m. vs. Oakland (0-0) // Live Stats

NOTES: Robert Morris @ Butler Tournament (8.25.17 & 8.26.17)

Musket Shots

NEW DAY, NEW SEASON
The Robert Morris Colonials return to the court for the first time in 2017 when they travel to Indianapolis for the Butler Tournament. RMU is coming off a 14-16 (8-6 NEC) campaign in 2016 and just missed out on qualifying for its 18th-consecutive Northeast Conference tournament by one game. The Colonials did produce their 18th-straight winning league record, which stands as the longest mark stretch of any NEC member, past or present.
 
WELCOME FRESHMAN
Head coach Dale Starr welcomes eight freshmen to the team in 2017 including  Maria Alfano, Caroline Bain, Whitney Brown, Skylar Clements, Emma Granger, Alyson Londot, Mirna Sarjanovic and Erika Wilt. This matches the 2014 squad for the most freshmen on a Dale Starr coached Colonial team. The previous high was six back in 2015.
 
CHALLENGE ACCEPTED
The Colonials will have to find a way to replace the production of four-time All-NEC honoree Arden Fisher. Fisher became just the third RMU player in program history to earn All-NEC honors all four years of her career. Fisher was a second-team honoree her first three years before earning first-team laurels in 2016. She became the first volleyball player in in RMU history to record 1,000-plus career kills (1,246) and 1,500-plus career digs (1,852). Her 598 digs last season ranks second in the individual single-season records. She also finished her career ranked second in career digs and fifth in career kills.
 
DIGGING UP SUCCESS
RMU ranked among the nation's best last season as the Colonials were 16th with a conference best 17.44 digs per set. Three Colonials ranked in the top 10 in the NEC in digs including Arden Fisher (1st - 5.34), Taylor Lord (8th - 3.56) and Allie Yurkovich (9th - 3.23). Last season marked the second straight year that RMU tallied at least 2,000 digs.
 
LENDING A HELPING HAND
Senior Brianna Frakes was one of just two players in the NEC to dish out 900-plus assists. She ranked second in the league in both total assists (910) and assists per set (8.43). As a team, RMU was third in the conference with 10.90 assists per set.
 
A HISTORIC RUN
Robert Morris recorded its 18th consecutive winning record in NEC play. By doing so, the Colonials extended the longest such streak of any NEC member, past or present. Over that time span, RMU has gone 162-42 in conference play:

1999: 9-0
2000: 8-1
2001: 8-1
2002: 9-0
2003: 8-0
2004: 8-0
2005: 7-1
2006: 5-3
2007: 6-2
2008: 8-0
2009: 11-5
2010: 13-3
2011: 10-6
2012: 13-3
2013: 8-6
2014: 12-2
2015: 11-3
2016: 8-6

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