BROOKLYN, N.Y. -- A trying season for the
Robert Morris volleyball team has not slowed the torrid pace at which its top player is cementing her reputation as one of the greatest members of this service rotation, or any other in program history.
Sophomore middle blocker
Emma Granger registered four service aces for the Colonials, who fell in five sets (19-25, 25-17, 20-25, 25-20, 12-15) to Northeast Conference rival St. Francis Brooklyn at the Genovesi Center Friday evening. The 6'4" Dalton High School product, who now has an even 40 this year, became the 12th player in RMU history to surpass 100 career aces.
Granger was second in the NEC at 0.40 aces per set entering Friday. Furthermore, she was one of only two NEC players in the NCAA top-25 for total aces in 2018, ranking 22nd in Division I.
She also paced the Colonials (8-17, 2-8) with a .312 attack average and four total blocks, adding 15 kills. This marked the eighth time in the last nine conference contests Granger has reached double figures in kills.
Fellow second-year Ohioan
Alyson Londot attained a milestone of her own, ringing up a career-high 18 kills from her outside spot, tying NEC Co-Player of the Week Vanja Miljacic for the most among all players. Londot helped Robert Morris build up a 20-11 cushion late in the second, and she delivered set point, aided by
Megan Cannon, to even the match.
Cannon narrowly missed her third double-double of the season, settling for 38 assists and nine digs. The rookie setter has averaged 8.86 assists per set over her past three outings.
Senior outside hitter
Taylor Lord, in that respect, was a bit more fortunate, nailing down her third straight double-double and team-leading seventh of the season on 14 kills and a season-high 18 digs. The Week 9 NEC Prime Performer put away a feed from Cannon for a 12-7 RMU lead earlier in the second, then set up Londot herself to make it 18-10.
With their team down two sets to one, Lord and Granger keyed a 4-0 start to the fourth. The Colonials saw that early advantage trimmed to 6-5 before being awarded a point by officials on a violation by the Terriers (8-16, 4-6).
A few plays later, a Londot kill started a 5-1 Robert Morris run from which SFBK never fully recovered. Granger brought RMU to set point, and Lord cashed it in to extend the contest.
Granger would get her team as close as 13-12 in the fifth before Miljacic collected the final two points.
Another Week 9 NEC Prime Performer, senior libero
Allie Yurkovich led the Colonials defensively with 24 digs. The former Thomas Jefferson (Jefferson Hills, Pennsylvania) standout has now dug at least 20 attempts in each of her last seven matches, including six against conference competition.
Robert Morris continues its NEC road trip in Brooklyn Saturday with a 4:00 p.m. EDT first serve at Long Island University.
Once again, the match can be seen live on NEC Front Row.
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