NEW BRITAIN, Conn. -- The
Robert Morris volleyball team got another strong performance out of one of its seniors at Central Connecticut, but one was far from enough in a straight-set loss to the Blue Devils (19-25, 15-25, 23-25) at Detrick Gymnasium Friday night.
Outside hitter
Taylor Lord earned a double-double when last she faced CCSU, back at the North Athletic Complex on Nov. 11, 2017, and she attained another in RMU's last victory over the Blue Devils on Oct. 22, 2016. On Friday, the Inwood, West Virginia native and Musselman High School standout finished with her fourth of the season on ten kills and ten digs on a solid .368 attack average while the rest of the Colonials offense struggled to find a rhythm in their first Northeast Conference match of 2018.
Week 4
Molten/NEC Player of the Week
Emma Granger did overcome a slow start, however, to end up with seven kills on a .385 clip. Ultimately, she was reunited with her common companion at the middle blocker spot, fellow sophomore
Maria Alfano, who registered four kills and a block assist over the final two sets in her return from an upper-body injury.
Skylar Clements, another sophomore who had been subbing for the injured Alfano, hit .375 with three kills and three total blocks. She and Granger each picked up their team co-leading sixth solo block of the year.
Result aside, Robert Morris continued to show off its depth at setter. Although Pittsburgh-raised sophomore
Whitney Brown had a relatively quiet night (11 assists, three digs) coming off her big showing in the RMU Sheraton Innvitational (8.64 assists per set), rookie
Megan Cannon backed her up well with a team-leading 20 helpers.
Defensively, the Colonials out-dug the Blue Devils (4-8, 1-0), 34-30 but just couldn't do enough to slow down the Central Connecticut attack. A pair of Granger kills, plus one by Cannon during a 4-0 spurt gave RMU a 12-9 lead in the third that quickly dissolved.
CCSU watched the Colonials pull ahead 20-18 before snatching five of the next six points. A couple of kills by sophomore outside hitter
Alyson Londot, who ended her night with eight, were all the visitors could muster.
They could only bring themselves as close as 17-14 in the first set and 18-13 in the second.
Robert Morris (6-9, 0-1), which is still 22-14 all-time against Central Connecticut in recorded program history, will try to bounce back Saturday evening, when NEC play continues at Bryant. First serve from the Chace Athletic Center in Smithfield, Rhode Island is scheduled for 5:00 p.m. EDT.
Follow the Colonials: Facebook | Twitter | Instagram | YouTube | Snapchat
