MOON TOWNSHIP, Pa. -- The
Robert Morris volleyball team put forth one of its most complete efforts of the young season Tuesday night, thanks in large part to perhaps the best performance of 2018 by its best young player.
Emma Granger, looking very much like the 6'4" wunderkind who ran away with the 2017 Northeast Conference Rookie of the Year award, powered the Colonials to a four-set flattening (25-23, 25-15, 24-26, 25-15) of Youngstown State at the North Athletic Complex. The sophomore middle blocker matched her career high with 18 kills, attacking at a staggering .567 average, and delivered a match-high five service aces and four total blocks. RMU, as a team, out-hit YSU .313 to .178.
Granger, tactfully recovering from an off-season leg injury, last collected 18 versus Penn on Sept. 15, 2017. She is only the fifth different player in school history to finish a four-set match with five or more aces, her most since a Nov. 3, 2017 win over arch-rival Saint Francis U.
"It's the best she's played in a year, for sure," said head coach
Dale Starr after his team picked up its fourth win in five matches. "We've been very, very careful with her...because we're pretty thin at the middle right now. For her, moving forward, I think this is great for her confidence. I think it's great for (sophomore setter) Whitney (Brown)'s confidence as well, because Whitney finally got a connection with her.
"Emma is finding out that she can be effective in different ways. She scored a lot of different ways tonight. And I think that's part of her maturation process and figuring out how to play this game, that you don't always have to be overwhelming to be effective."
The evening, which ended with their first victory over their longtime non-conference foe since Sept. 20, 2011, began ominously for the Colonials, and for their front-row phenom. An early 5-0 run that included a Granger block assist and kill, aided by alert defense from senior libero
Allie Yurkovich, gave Robert Morris the lead, and another kill by the former Dalton (Ohio) High School standout produced an 11-4 advantage and forced the Penguins (6-5) to burn their first timeout.
Her first ace of the night made it 14-5 RMU before YSU got off the mat in a big way, turning a 17-9 laugher into a 20-19 pressure-cooker. But the Colonials never let the Penguins pull even, and as the teams traded points, Brown finally set up Granger for the one that secured the set.
"The outsides have been swinging really well lately. As for the middles, we had been having trouble connecting on some things since the start of the season, but today it felt like everything really clicked," Granger said.
Alyssa Hudak gave her excellent offensive support throughout the match. The rookie outside hitter, who grew up just 30 miles away from Granger in Medina, Ohio, achieved a new season-high with her 11 kills, including a superkill that brought the Colonials to set point in the first, and she made three digs and three total blocks as well.
Granger ripped off three kills in a row for a 4-2 RMU lead in the second, and her back-to-back aces brought it to 8-3. Brown hooked up with Hudak twice in a row for a 14-5 advantage, and Granger compelled Youngstown State to burn its last timeout when she brought the score to 19-11.
She forced a YSU ball handling error on set point to give Robert Morris its first two-sets-to-none lead of the season.
"This is a little bit of a rivalry game, so I just think we came out really excited to play them," Granger said. "We had a lot of intensity to start, which is something we haven't normally had in the past."
"The focus today was starting off with a win in the first set, since we haven't done that so much, so far," said Yurkovich, who led the defense with a season-high 21 digs and contributed two aces of her own during the final set. "[We talked about] applying pressure from the first point, then 'small games' to five--get to five, get to ten, fifteen--just focusing on one point at a time."
The Penguins narrowly avoided a sweep by staving off match point and ringing up three in a row to close out the third. The Colonials responded by taking a 5-1 lead to start the fourth that they never surrendered.
A magnificent solo block by Hudak, followed shortly thereafter by a loud one from Granger, helped Robert Morris gain a 14-9 edge. Youngstown State made it a three-point game before RMU began pulling away, and, fittingly, Yurkovich's second ace gave its three-member senior class its first win over the 'Guins.
"When you get a little taste of success, and a taste of the things that we're trying to do, practice-wise, and it starts paying off, it has an effect," Starr said. "This team has the potential to be really good. We also have the potential to be really bad. So the fact they're learning to be really good and limiting the times when we're really bad, I think that's really good."
Brown, named a Week 3 NEC Prime Performer for her historic outing in the Charm City Challenge last weekend, had another big night with 48 assists, adding eight digs and two service aces. Meanwhile, senior outside hitter
Taylor Lord continued her fine two-way play of late with 11 kills, eight digs and a pair of aces.
Robert Morris (4-7) stays home to host the 2018 RMU Sheraton Innvitational Friday and Saturday, featuring Eastern Michigan, Houston, Purdue Fort Wayne and downtown rival Duquesne. The Colonials will begin tournament play Friday versus Eastern Michigan.
First serve against the Eagles is scheduled for 4:00 p.m. EDT at the North Athletic Complex, and admission is free.
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