MOON TOWNSHIP, Pa. - The Robert Morris volleyball team showed resolve on Friday, opening the two-day, four-team Robert Morris Invitational with two of its final three matches ever at the Sewall Center, but could not translate it into results. The Colonials were upended by Middle Tennessee, 3-2, in the day's second match, and were edged by Penn, 3-2, in the nightcap.
In both instances, Robert Morris (5-9) overcame slow starts and put itself in position for dramatic come-from-behind victories, but it was unable to hang on in the end. Against the Blue Raiders, the Colonials came back from 2-0 down but couldn't dig out of an early hole in the fifth set, dropping it 15-7. They later erased 1-0 and 2-1 deficits, rallying for a fourth-set victory, then breaking a 6-0 run by the Quakers in the winner-take-all set and fighting back to tie it before falling 15-12.
Head coach Dale Starr's voluminous freshman class, however, continues to produce positives for RMU. Freshman middle blocker Emma Granger, the reigning Northeast Conference Rookie of the Week, led the Colonials with 13 kills against MTSU, along with a season-best five aces, and registered 19.5 points. Granger has ranked among the NCAA leaders in service aces.
Fellow middle blocker Maria Alfano was not far behind with 11 kills. Furthermore, the Seneca Valley product hit a solid .381 versus the Blue Raiders while reaching her own season-high point total of 13.5.
Granger gradually took charge as the second match progressed, equaling those 19.5 points against Penn and finishing the contest with 18 kills and a .419 hitting percentage. Another freshman—and Ohio native—Alyson Londot, meanwhile, also performed admirably against the Quakers, as the outside hitter registered a double-double of 13 kills and ten digs, hitting .312.
Starr will likely look to his veterans for leadership while his underclassmen continue to grow, and there were prime examples of that this evening as well. Junior outside hitter Taylor Lord got off to a rousing start in the second match and finished with a double-double of her own (15 kills, 17 digs).
In addition, setter Brianna Frakes, one of two seniors on the 2017 squad, piled up 35 assists in the midday affair with Middle Tennessee. She also finished with seven digs in that match before getting nine digs and a season-best 49 helpers against Penn.
Robert Morris will try to get back in the win column in the finale of tomorrow's Robert Morris Invitational against Rutgers at 12:30 p.m. It will be the last NCAA Division I sporting event of any kind held at "The Chuck" before it is razed to make room for the UPMC Events Center, scheduled to open in January of 2019.
The Colonials, until then, will play forthcoming home matches at the nearby North Athletic Complex, beginning with a Sept. 29 matchup versus NEC rival Sacred Heart.
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