BLACKSBURG, Va. -- The
Robert Morris volleyball team did not go down without a fight Friday in the Hokie Invitational, but it did, ultimately, go down to Campbell (22-25, 25-18, 19-25, 16-25) and William & Mary (23-25, 22-25, 25-23, 21-25) in four sets apiece at the Cassell Coliseum.
Still in search of a winning formula, rookie setter
Megan Cannon gave the young Colonials a glimpse of a bright future in recording her first collegiate double-double. The New Franken, Wisconsin native and Luxemburg-Casco High School standout finished with ten digs and a match-high 28 assists against the Tribe (1-4).
Senior libero
Allie Yurkovich led RMU with 16 digs in its second match of the weekend, adding six helpers. Defensively, Robert Morris held a 66-65 team edge in digs, while making 10.0 team blocks to William & Mary's 8.0, and holding the Tribe to a .120 team hitting percentage.
Sophomore outside hitter
Alyson Londot also delivered a double-double in the nightcap with ten digs of her own and a team-best 12 kills. She narrowly missed a second double-double in the morning match with the Camels (2-2), settling for nine kills and nine digs.
Yurkovich paced the Colonials in digs against Campbell as well, with 12. She made five assists in the tournament opener.
Her fellow senior,
Taylor Lord, posted the first double-double of the day for RMU, notching 13 kills and 11 digs. It was the second of the season for the outside hitter and 2017 All-NEC Tournament Team honoree.
Meanwhile, depth at the setter position continues to be an early-season theme for Robert Morris, as sophomore
Whitney Brown, named an NEC Prime Performer for Week 1, collected a career-high 37 assists versus Campbell.
After struggling in the season-opening Catamount Classic, the Robert Morris offense began Friday showing signs of life. The Colonials hit a season-high .238, made 48 kills to 46 by the Camels and registered ten service aces. Brown matched her career high with three of those.
RMU went on a 6-1 run early in the first set to tie it, 8-8, but it could not find a rhythm until the second game. The Colonials started the second on a 4-0 run after a couple of aces by Brown and a pair of kills from Londot. After the Camels rallied to tie, Robert Morris rattled off the next three points and never trailed again, evening the match after back-to-back kills by Lord.
Unfortunately, the Colonials were unable to climb out of holes in the next two sets, but they nearly climbed out of a sizable one in the opening frame versus William & Mary. The Tribe ran out to a 23-14 lead before Robert Morris went on a 9-0 tear and forced them to burn both timeouts, only to see Kate Dedrick take the next two points for the CAA squad.
In the following set, RMU showed further resiliency, forcing ties of 16-16 and 19-19 before five straight points by William & Mary put it out of reach. That resiliency was finally rewarded in the third, when Robert Morris, down 22-19 at one point, took a 24-23 lead on consecutive
Mirna Sarjanovic kills and took the set on subsequent block assists by
Liz Campbell and
Maria Alfano.
The stubborn Colonials would stave off three match points before the Tribe finally put it away.
Robert Morris (0-5) concludes its portion of the Hokie Invitational Saturday at 4:00 p.m. EDT with a match against host Virginia Tech that can be seen live on ACC Network Extra.
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