LORETTO, Pa. --
Robert Morris volleyball coach
Dale Starr expected "a lunch pail kind of match" when his team entered DeGol Arena Friday night for its Northeast Conference opener. RMU, hungry for a 19th consecutive winning year in conference play, did indeed "dig in."
Freshman outside hitter
Alyson Londot and senior setter
Brianna Frakes each set season highs with 30 and 18 digs, respectively, and freshman middle blocker
Maria Alfano made a personal-best 14 kills to help the Colonials (7-9, 1-0) rattle off three straight wins in a 3-1 defeat of Saint Francis University. Robert Morris celebrates back-to-back wins for the second time this season.
The Red Flash (6-8, 0-1), in that category, did enjoy another big night from their defensive specialist, Jenna Veres, who came in among the NCAA top 20 in digs per set and led everyone with 34. However, the bigger story for the visitors was how the aforementioned Colonials raised their defensive game. Londot's 30 digs doubled her career high, and Frakes's 18 were just one shy of her own.
Junior libero
Allie Yurkovich chipped in 15 digs and also contributed a season-high seven assists for RMU. Frakes, the team leader in helpers, had 36 on the night, and registered season highs in kills, with five, and points, with 8.0.
Starr's historically young team showed further signs of maturity by winning despite losing the opening set for just the second time this season. SFU stormed out to 13-8 and 17-12 leads en route to a 25-19 victory and 1-0 advantage.
Robert Morris responded in earnest with a 10-2 run to begin the second set, and it scored the last five points to even the match, bolstered by Londot and a couple kills from two-time NEC Rookie of the Week
Emma Granger, who ended up hitting .346. Granger also had the decisive kill of the third set, which featured myriad ties and lead changes before the Colonials finally prevailed, 25-23.
Going forward, they appeared to be in cruise control, building an 11-3 cushion in the fourth set, but Saint Francis rallied furiously for a 19-16 edge, prompting Starr to call timeout. The Red Flash's momentum was, in fact, halted for good; Robert Morris answered with a 7-1 run and eventually sealed the deal with a 25-22 triumph.
Robert Morris returns home to continue Northeast Conference play against Sacred Heart (7-6, 1-0), next Friday at 7:00 p.m. The Colonials follow that up with a 5:00 p.m. NEC contest against visiting Fairleigh Dickinson (3-12, 0-1) next Saturday.
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