MOON TOWNSHIP, Pa. -- The
Robert Morris volleyball team began Senior Week in style with a straight-set victory (25-21, 25-15, 25-15) over Northeast Conference rival Fairleigh Dickinson at the North Athletic Complex Friday night.
Senior outside hitter
Taylor Lord led the attack for the Colonials (11-17, 5-8), who have won each of their last nine sets played and swept the Knights (2-27, 0-13) for the second time this year. She drove home 15 kills on a season-high .375 attack average and dug 13 attempts for her team-leading eighth double-double of the season.
The three-time NEC Prime Performer now has three double-doubles in her last four home matches. She and the rest of the RMU offense meshed well with its setters all night, as rookie
Megan Cannon also registered a double-double on 12 assists and 11 digs.
Pittsburgh-raised sophomore
Whitney Brown chipped in a team-best 19 helpers, along with seven digs and two of three Colonial service aces on the night.
Defensively, Robert Morris held FDU to a team hitting percentage of .053. Senior libero
Allie Yurkovich added 14 digs, and the Thomas Jefferson High School (Jefferson Hills, Pennsylvania) product equaled a career high with seven assists of her own.
The Colonials opened up a 14-7 lead in the first set before Fairleigh Dickinson went on a mini-run to make it a three-point game. That would be their only serious threat, however, as Robert Morris kept the Knights at arm's length long enough for Lord to put it away on set point.
RMU took advantage of several FDU miscues to take command in the second with an opening 10-0 run, capped by one of five kills from sophomore middle blocker
Maria Alfano. The Knights could only get as close as 13-8, and rookie
Emily Devlin got hot from the right side late in the middle frame. Her block assist on the final point gave the Colonials a two-set cushion.
Sophomore middle blocker
Emma Granger had the other assist, and she would have the honor of both bringing Robert Morris to match point and securing it with back-to-back kills aided by Cannon.
Fairleigh Dickinson hung around early in the third, but the Colonials opened up a 13-7 advantage and gradually pulled away.
Granger, the reigning NEC Player of the Week, finished with seven kills on a .455 clip.
Robert Morris hosts NEC rival Sacred Heart in its final match of the 2018 regular season, as well as its last at the North Athletic Complex before moving into its new permanent home, the UPMC Events Center, in 2019.
Senior Night festivities will follow the conclusion of the match, as RMU honors Lord, Yurkovich and middle blocker
Liz Campbell, its three outgoing players.
First serve at the NAC is scheduled for 5:00 p.m. ET. Admission is free, and the match can also be seen live on NEC Front Row.
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