PITTSBURGH -- The Robert Morris volleyball team was unable to parlay strong starts into an equally strong finish in its final non-conference match of the regular season, falling in straight sets (25-27, 30-32, 17-25) to Duquesne at the A.J. Palumbo Center Tuesday night.

A balanced Colonials offense saw rookie right side hitter Emily Devlin and sophomore outside hitter Mirna Sarjanovic deliver seven kills apiece. Both helped RMU storm out to an 11-4 start in the opening set before the Dukes (8-11, 2-4) caught fire at the other end of the floor and made it a one-point game.

Eventually, the cross-town rivals battled to 11 ties before Duquesne staved off set point twice to steal the opener. Defensively, Robert Morris continued its success from Homecoming Week in holding the Dukes to an .050 team attack average in the first.

The second set was even more of a back-and-forth affair, although the outside tandem of Devlin and Sarjanovic willed the Colonials to an early 7-3 lead. A heroic effort by sophomore setter Whitney Brown to rescue a point gave Robert Morris a 24-23 edge, but its service rotation struggled to put the nail in the coffin.

Collectively, the teams survived set point seven times before Liz Wayne and Summer Slade finally took the last two points for the Dukes.

The teams combined to hit .398 in the second, which was the highest-scoring set played by RMU since the Colonials, by the same score, won the second set of their Senior Night match versus Central Connecticut Nov. 11, 2017.

Brown was a presence all over the floor for the visitors, finishing with 36 assists, eight digs and two of four Robert Morris service aces. She added some sneak dump-ins from the front row in contributing four kills on five attacks.

Her ace in the third cut Duquesne's lead to 10-7. Unfortunately, that was as close as the Colonials could get.

Rookie outside hitter Alyssa Hudak, for her part, tried keeping RMU in the hunt with a team-high eight kills. Sophomore middle blocker Maria Alfano played perhaps her best match since the preseason, chipping in six kills and leading all competitors with six total blocks, including three solo.

Senior libero Allie Yurkovich topped all participants with 20 digs.

Robert Morris (7-13, 1-4) resumes Northeast Conference play this weekend with two critical matches on the road. The Colonials visit Fairleigh Dickinson Friday before traveling to take on Sacred Heart Saturday.

First serve from Stratis Arena at the George and Phyllis Rothman Center in Hackensack, New Jersey is scheduled for 5:00 p.m. EDT Friday, and first serve from the William H. Pitt Center in Fairfield, Connecticut is slated for 4:00 p.m. Saturday.

Saturday's contest against the Pioneers can be seen live on NEC Front Row.

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