Philadelphia, Pa. – The Robert Morris University volleyball team picked up its third clean sweep of the season, defeating Siena in three sets (25-17, 26-24, 25-18) to open the Valley Forge Sports Invitational this afternoon.
Robert Morris' (4-6, 0-0 NEC) previous two victories over Canisius and Coppin State at last weekend's Duquesne Invitational also came in three frames, while its first win over Stony Brook needed four.
Emma Granger continued the strong start to her collegiate career, leading the way with 11 kills, five service aces, and five block assists. Granger hit .474 for the match with her 19 swings, helping the Colonials hit .289 as a team.
Quarterbacking the efficient offense was Brianna Frakes and Whitney Brown at setter. Frakes posted a double-double with 21 assists and 10 digs, while Brown added 11 and five. Liz Campbell, playing in her first match since the opener, registered a trio of kills and an assist in one set.
Siena (0-5, 0-0 MAAC) went out in front early in the opening set, 5-1, but RMU responded with a 9-3 run to force a timeout. The Saints never trimmed the deficit to fewer than two in the frame as the Colonials pushed on after the break to record eight of the next 10 points to put it away.
Down 21-20 in the second set, RMU burned a timeout to regroup following a Siena block. The Saints were forced into an attack error on the next serve to tie it up, followed by a Maria Alfano kill to put the Colonials ahead. Siena responded with two points of its own to regain the lead, but Tamlin registered a kill and combined for a block with Granger to make it 24-23.
Siena called a timeout and was rewarded with a Nicole Deobler kill to push it to 24-24, but Alyson Londot and Granger found the floor on the next two serves to win the stanza.
Holding a slight 15-13 edge in the third set, RMU rattled off four straight points to take control as Tamlin, Campbell, and Granger all recorded kills. Siena then grabbed two of the next three points to make it 20-15, but the Colonials responded with three kills – two from Mirna Sarjanovic – and an ace. After a brief 3-0 run for the Saints, Skylar Clements closed the match out with her first kill of the afternoon.
Robert Morris closes out play at the Valley Forge Sports Invitational tomorrow with a pair of matches. The Colonials first play at 11:30 a.m. against Navy before finishing their day at 4:30 p.m. against La Salle.
