MOON TOWNSHIP, Pa. -- The
Robert Morris volleyball team ended its 2018 season by falling in four sets (20-25, 17-25, 25-16, 24-26) to Northeast Conference rival Sacred Heart at the North Athletic Complex Saturday night.
The Colonials (11-18, 5-9) closed out the NAC against the Pioneers (16-9, 9-5), the same opponent that helped christen their temporary home Sept. 29, 2017. They were victorious in 12 of the 19 total matches (.632 win percentage) played in the 500-seat venue they have shared with the RMU men's and women's basketball teams.
All three programs will begin play in the new, 4,000-seat UPMCÂ Events Center next fall, which sits on the former site of the Charles L. Sewall Center, where the volleyball team played 1985-2017.
In addition, head coach
Dale Starr wrapped up his ninth season at the helm by giving starting nods to three seniors playing in their final match: middle blocker
Liz Campbell, libero
Allie Yurkovich and outside hitter
Taylor Lord.
The trio were a part of two NEC Tournament teams, including the championship squad in 2015 that made RMU's most recent NCAA Volleyball Tournament appearance. Together, they accounted for 58 wins over the past three-plus seasons, including 32 in conference play.
Furthermore, they helped Robert Morris become the top academic team in NEC volleyball, achieving an aggregate grade-point average of 3.727 for the 2017-18 year that established a new high for the Starr era.
Campbell, a Springfield, Ohio native and Shawnee High School product, played setter and right side, in addition to her recent responsibilities in the middle, as a four-year letter winner. Over 227 career sets played, she registered 120 kills, 780 assists, 175 digs and 101 total blocks.
Her kill midway through the first set brought the Colonials to within 16-15, and she ended her night with four total blocks.
After graduation this spring, Campbell plans to move back to Ohio and use her degree in Education/Special Education to begin her teaching career. She currently holds a 3.68 GPA in Business Management.
Yurkovich, one of five WPIAL (Western Pennsylvania Interscholastic Athletic League) alumnae on this year's team, came to Robert Morris from Thomas Jefferson High School via Jefferson Hills, Pennsylvania. She played 460 sets as a collegian, ranking seventh in Colonials history, and finished her career with 1,670 career digs, the fourth-most in RMU lore.
Meanwhile, she collected 278 assists and 82 service aces all-time. On Saturday, she led the Colonials with 13 digs, and she averaged a career single-year high 4.26 per set as a senior.
With a 3.65 GPA in Nursing, Yurkovich has obtained a job offer from Jefferson Hospital following her spring graduation.
Lord, a former Musselman High School standout from Inwood, West Virginia, will also go down as one of the top defensive players in recent program history. She finished her Robert Morris career with 163 total blocks, and her 1,384 digs put her seventh in school history.
A 2017 All-NEC Tournament selection, Lord also made 944 career kills, and her 111 aces put her in eighth in program history. She delivered nine kills and dug ten attempts against Sacred Heart, and she concluded her senior season with a team-leading eight double-doubles.
She carries a 3.69 GPA in Financial Math, with a minor in Organizational Leadership, and she has accepted a position with PNC Bank in risk management following graduation.
While the seniors prepared to make their exit, sophomore middle blocker
Emma Granger pointed toward a bright future for the Colonials. The reigning NEC Player of the Week strapped the team to her back when it went on a 9-0 run in the middle of the third to give Robert Morris life.
She brought RMU to set point, which it obtained on a service error by the Pioneers. In the fourth, after the Colonials got off to a slow start, Granger rallied them with three aces in a row to cap a 7-1 run that put her team in front.
Block assists by Granger and Campbell gave Robert Morris a 22-21 edge, and a Granger kill brought RMU to set point, but SHU overcame RMU's tenacity to take the final four points of the night and thwart the comeback attempt.
The 2017 NEC Rookie of the Year continued to make a strong case for a second consecutive All-NEC First Team pick, matching her season high with nine total blocks and finishing with 12 kills on a .500 clip, adding five service aces.
Her 53 total aces in 2018 leave her in the NEC lead through Sunday and in the NCAA top ten. Granger entered the weekend tied for eighth in Division I.
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