Volleyball | 10/18/2018 5:29:00 PM

MOON TOWNSHIP, Pa. -- The Robert Morris volleyball team begins the second stage of round-robin conference play when it welcomes the Blue Devils of Central Connecticut State University and the Bulldogs of Bryant University to the North Athletic Complex in Moon Township, Pennsylvania for back-to-back Northeast Conference matches Friday and Saturday.

First serve against CCSU is scheduled for 7:00 p.m. EDT Friday, and first serve versus Bryant is slated for 5:00 p.m. Saturday. Admission to both matches is free, and both can be seen live on NEC Front Row.

Robert Morris (8-14, 2-5) vs. Central Connecticut & Bryant
Fri., Oct. 19 (7:00 p.m.) - LIVE STREAM | LIVE STATS
Sat., Oct. 20 (5:00 p.m.) - LIVE STREAM | LIVE STATS

COMPLETE NOTES PACKAGE: Robert Morris vs. Central Connecticut & Bryant (Oct. 19-20, 2018) (PDF)

RMU holds a 22-14 lead in the all-time series with CCSU as it seeks its first win over the Blue Devils since a four-set decision (25-22, 17-25, 25-18, 28-26) at Detrick Gymnasium on Oct. 22, 2016. Arden Fisher led the Colonials that day with a double-double of 17 kills and 31 digs, topping all competitors, and she added two assists and one service ace.

Its last home win over the Blue Devils was a four-set victory (26-24, 23-25, 25-23, 25-16) at the Sewall Center Nov. 15, 2015, in which Fisher set a new career high with 36 digs. Most recently, Robert Morris fell in straight sets in New Britain in its conference opener Sept. 21, despite 20 assists and three digs from Megan Cannon.

The Colonials lead the all-time series against Bryant, for that matter, by a 12-9 margin. Robert Morris prevailed in five (25-15, 23-25, 25-19, 23-25, 15-9) for its last win over the Bulldogs, Nov. 14, 2015 at "The Chuck," whereas Bryant overcame 14 kills and three service aces by Emma Granger to take a five-setter in Smithfield, Rhode Island in their last meeting, on Sept. 22.

Last Time Out
Granger made a match-high 15 kills, adding one of the team's four aces, on a .480 clip, while Maria Alfano matched her season-high .500 attack average for the third time this year in collecting eight kills en route to a straight-set win (25-19, 25-22, 25-21) at Fairleigh Dickinson last Friday.

The second-year front row tandem that affectionately calls itself the "Goggle Gang" was not quite able to solve Sacred Heart the next day, falling in four close sets to the host Pioneers. Granger and Alfano combined for a .360 attack average and half of the 12 total blocks by RMU in defeat.

Scouting The Opponents
Central Connecticut (8-10, 5-2), one of three teams to share last year's NEC regular-season title, now finds itself in a three-horse race for second in the conference after dropping a straight-set result at home to Bryant last Friday. Junior opposite Madelyn Kaprelyan registered 14 assists, seven digs and six total blocks in the loss, and she finished with 15 helpers and 13 kills the last time she faced RMU.

Bryant (15-9, 5-2) forced that second-place tie with its victory. Sophomore libero Erika Ward, the Molten/NEC Defensive Player of the Week, led the Bulldogs with 22 digs, and she ranks fourth in the NEC with 4.29 per set. Senior outside hitter Kristin Kingi, a Week 8 NEC Prime Performer, had a double-double at CCSU (15 kills, 13 digs), and against the Colonials (24 digs, ten kills) in their last meeting.

MUSKET SHOTS

Granger Danger
Emma Granger was named an NEC Prime Performer after leading the Robert Morris offense in Week 8. She hit .412 for the weekend and posted totals of 4.0 kills per set and .353 attacking in three matches last week. She also totaled six blocks and a pair of aces in the two NEC contests. Granger ranks fourth in the conference with her .294 average, ninth with 0.78 blocks per set and tenth with 2.67 kills per set.
 

Stuck In The Middle With (R-M-)You
Maria Alfano and Skylar Clements have taken turns giving fellow second-year middle blocker Granger strong support at her position. Alfano ranks seventh overall in the NEC with her .258 attack average and sixth with her 0.86 blocks per set. Clements has hit .246 overall, good for ninth in the conference, and she has averaged 1.00 blocks per set against NEC competition, which ranks eighth entering Friday.

Lord Have Mercy
Taylor Lord achieved her team-leading fourth double-double of the season in the NEC opener at Central Connecticut Sept. 21 with ten kills and ten digs. She dug a season-high 16 attempts for the third time this season Sept. 22 at Bryant, where she also made a career-high 21 kills Oct. 23, 2016. Lord picked up a double-double (17 kills, 19 digs) in her last home outing against CCSU Nov. 11, 2017, and she is averaging 2.44 kills and 3.66 digs per set lifetime versus both opponents.

Native Whit
Pittsburgh-raised Whitney Brown has received three NEC Prime Performer selections this season, most recently for her Week 7 efforts. She averaged 10.62 assists per set versus St. Francis Brooklyn and LIU Brooklyn Oct. 5-6, and she co-led the Colonials with a combined seven total blocks, including a team-high six block assists, over their last two home conference matches. Brown remains second in the NEC with 8.47 assists per set, and she is sixth in RMU history with a career average of 6.53 per set. Her fourth double-double of the year, tied for the team lead, came at Bryant Sept. 22 (37 assists, 15 digs).

Bobbing For Apples
When Brown collected a career-high 58 assists versus Loyola (Md.) Sept. 7, it tied for the most single-match assists by a Colonial in NCAA volleyball's 25-point era (2008-present) and the fourth-most in a five-set match in team history. Only two other RMU players (Darcey Miller, Tawnya Storino) have ever registered more assists in a five-setter, and the last one with 58 was Hannah Hoffman versus Bryant Oct. 8, 2011.

The Croatian Sensation
Mirna Sarjanovic hit .277 on the road for the Colonials last weekend, combining for 17 kills and 18 digs. She is averaging 2.08 kills (third on the team) and 2.15 digs (fourth on the team) per set in conference play entering Friday, and through seven NEC matches, she has committed only three receiving errors. Currently, Sarjanovic ranks ninth in RMU history with her .954 career receiving average.
 

Cardiac Colonials
Aside from its initial meeting with Bryant, RMU has won its other five five-set matches in 2018, coming from behind in all five wins and coming back from a 2-0 deficit twice at home: versus Kent State Sept. 4 and against Houston Sept. 15. In doing so, the Colonials have equaled their most five-set wins in any single season under Dale Starr. They went 5-2 in five-setters in 2014, though their best win percentage in five-setters under Starr happened in 2015, when they went 3-1 (.750).

Ace In The Hole
With her second-set ace versus Loyola Sept. 7, Taylor Lord became the 11th player at RMU to amass 100 career service aces. Emma Granger, who is fourth in the NEC at 0.37 aces per set, has averaged 0.55 per set over six career meetings with CCSU and Bryant. The career-high five by Whitney Brown at UMBC Sept. 7 made her the sixth different Colonial, including Granger, to record that many in a five-set match. Meanwhile, Allie Yurkovich is coming off a career-high four aces at Sacred Heart last Saturday.

You Can't Spell "Consistency" Without "NEC"
In 2017, Robert Morris finished with its 19th straight winning record in Northeast Conference play, extending the longest such streak of any NEC member, past or present. RMU has gone 170-48 (.780) in NEC play over that span:
    1999: 9-0    2004: 8-0    2009: 11-5    2014: 12-2
    2000: 8-1    2005: 7-1      2010: 13-3    2015: 11-3
    2001: 8-1     2006: 5-3     2011: 10-6     2016: 8-6
    2002: 9-0   2007: 6-2     2012: 13-3     2017: 8-6
    2003: 8-0   2008: 8-0    2013: 8-6

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