Volleyball | 9/21/2018 2:06:00 AM
MOON TOWNSHIP, Pa. -- The
Robert Morris volleyball team begins Northeast Conference play for the 32nd time in program history this weekend when it travels to Central Connecticut State University to take on the Blue Devils and Bryant University to battle the Bulldogs. First serve at Central Connecticut's Detrick Gymnasium in New Britain, Connecticut is scheduled for 7:00 p.m. EDT Friday, and first serve from the Elizabeth and Malcolm Chace Athletic Center on the Bryant campus in Smithfield, Rhode Island is slated for 5:00 p.m. EDT Saturday.
Robert Morris (6-8, 0-0) at Central Connecticut & Bryant
Fri., Sept. 21 at Central Connecticut (7:00 p.m.) - LIVE STREAM | LIVE STATS
Sat., Sept. 22 at Bryant (5:00 p.m.) - LIVE STREAM | LIVE STATS
COMPLETE NOTES PACKAGE: Robert Morris at Central Connecticut & Bryant (Sept. 21-22, 2018) (PDF)
RMU holds a 22-13 lead* in the all-time series versus CCSU as it seeks its first win over the Blue Devils, as well as its first win in enemy territory, since a four-set decision (25-22, 17-25, 25-18, 28-26) on Oct. 22, 2016.
Arden Fisher led the Colonials that day with a double-double of 17 kills and 31 digs, tops among all competitors, and she added two assists and one service ace. Most recently, Robert Morris dropped a five-set duel with Central Connecticut at the North Athletic Complex Nov. 11, 2017.
The Colonials lead the all-time series against Bryant, for that matter, by a 12-8 margin.* The Bulldogs, who found themselves in a three-way tie with CCSU and LIU Brooklyn for the 2017 NEC regular-season title, took a pair of straight-set results from RMU last season, most recently on Nov. 10, 2017. Robert Morris edged Bryant in five (25-15, 23-25, 25-19, 23-25, 15-9) for its last win over the Bulldogs Nov. 14, 2015 at the Sewall Center, and its last win in Smithfield was also a five-setter (25-22, 25-15, 18-25, 25-27, 15-9), on Oct. 5, 2014.
*Records from 1981-83; 1985-86 and 1988-89 are missing
Last Time Out
The Colonials edged Eastern Michigan (19-25, 27-25, 15-25, 27-25, 15-13) in their first match of the RMU Sheraton Innvitational at the North Athletic Complex last Friday, by virtue of their first match point ever to withstand video replay review.
They later ran out of steam in a four-set finale (26-28, 23-25, 25-15, 16-25) versus Purdue Fort Wayne, settling for a second-place finish in their annual home tournament, but not before delivering one of their grittiest performances of the season.
Early on the second day of the RMU Sheraton Innvitational, the Robert Morris volleyball team answered a wake-up call in time to turn a two-set deficit into another five-set thriller (15-25, 18-25, 25-23, 27-25, 15-12) over Houston at the North Athletic Complex Saturday.
Scouting The Opponents
Central Connecticut (3-8, 0-0), on paper, will be the most well-rested of this weekend's foes, beginning NEC play after a nine-day layoff that followed its four-set win at Iona last Wednesday. Junior opposite and Week 4 NEC Prime Performer Madelyn Kaprelyan posted big numbers for the Blue Devils in their latest non-conference triumph, finishing with a team-high 16 kills, 16 assists and 12 digs for her first triple-double of the season. Kaprelyan hit .348 the last time CCSU hosted RMU, ringing up ten kills, and she registered 16 in their most recent meeting, at the North Athletic Complex Nov. 11, 2017.Â
Bryant (9-7, 0-0) is coming off a four-set loss to geographic rival Brown in Providence, Rhode Island on Tuesday after a 2-2 week that included five-set victories over Providence College and over host Stony Brook at the Stony Brook Invitational in Stony Brook, New York. The Bulldogs, like CCSU, host both Pennsylvania NEC teams this weekend, as Saint Francis U comes to town for a 6:00 p.m. Friday match. Senior outside hitter Julia Flynn made the Stony Brook Invite All-Tournament Team with over three kills per set. She has at least 15 kills in her last five matches and only 83 shy of reaching 1,000 for her career. Flynn and Kristin Kingi, another senior outside hitter, were named NEC Prime Performers for Week 4 after Kingi registered 3.16 digs per set and 2.79 kills per set over the team's four matches.
MUSKET SHOTS
Lord Have Mercy
Taylor Lord achieved her team-leading third double-double of the season versus Loyola Sept. 7 with 15 kills and 14 digs. She is averaging 2.46 kills per set and 3.72 digs per set for her career against Central Connecticut and Bryant combined. Lord also registered a double-double in the last Robert Morris win at CCSU (ten kills, 18 digs), and in last year's regular-season finale versus the Blue Devils (17 kills, 19 digs).
Righteous In-Dig-Nation
Allie Yurkovich made 55 digs during the RMU Sheraton Innvitational. She made the all-tournament team and was named Molten/NEC Co-Defensive Player of the Week for the first time in her career after averaging a team-high 3.93 digs per set for the weekend. Yurkovich has climbed to eighth on the Robert Morris career chart with 1,391. She enters Friday fifth all-time in program history with 3.45 digs per set all-time, just ahead of Lord (3.34), and seventh in the NEC with 3.59 per set this season.
Cardiac Colonials
Robert Morris has won five five-set matches in as many opportunities in 2018, coming from behind in all five and coming back from a two-set deficit twice at home: versus Kent State Sept. 4 and against Eastern Michigan last Friday. In doing so, the Colonials have already equaled their most five-set wins in any single season under
Dale Starr. They went 5-2 in five-setters in 2014, although, technically, their best winning percentage in five-setters under Starr was in 2015, when they went 3-1 (.750).
Flashback Friday
When Robert Morris last defeated Bryant on the road, in their aforementioned Oct. 2014 showdown, three Colonials registered double-doubles to lead the victory.
Arden Fisher finished with 19 kills and 20 digs, the seventh double-double of her sophomore year, while
Brianna Frakes led RMU with 27 assists and added 11 digs and
Hannah Hoffman made 18 helpers and 13 digs.
Wonder Woman
Emma Granger received her first career Molten/NEC Player of the Week Award for her Week 4 efforts, including her performance in the RMU Sheraton Innvitational. She made the all-tournament team after hitting .326 for the weekend and averaging a team-best 3.29 kills per set while leading RMU in kills for all three tournament matches. Granger ranks fifth in the NEC with her .283 attack average entering Friday, and, as the 2017 NEC Rookie of the Year, finished second with a .317 clip in conference play.
Native Whit
Pittsburgh-raised
Whitney Brown has climbed to second in the NEC with 8.06 assists per set. She leads all active Colonials and ranks sixth in program history with a career average of 5.81 per set. Brown picked up the fourth and final double-double of her rookie campaign with 18 assists and 11 digs versus CCSU Nov. 11, 2017. The 18 helpers were her most in any single conference match in 2017.
Ace In The Hole
With her second-set ace versus Loyola Sept. 7,
Taylor Lord became the 11th player at RMU to amass 100 career service aces. She ranks seventh in school history with 0.28 aces per set.
Emma Granger comes into conference play as the RMU career leader with 0.48 per set. Granger has shot up to fifth in the NEC at 0.35 aces per set. Meanwhile, the career-high five aces by Brown at UMBC Sept. 7 made her the sixth different Robert Morris player to record that many in a five-set match. On her last visit to CCSU, Granger became the eighth different player in team history to collect six in a single match. Robert Morris averages 1.36 aces per set, good for third in the NEC.
You Can't Spell "Consistency" Without "NEC"
In 2017 Robert Morris finished with its 19th straight winning record in Northeast Conference play, extending the longest such streak of any NEC member, past or present. RMU has gone 170-48 (.780) in NEC play over that span:
   1999: 9-0    2004: 8-0    2009: 11-5    2014: 12-2
   2000: 8-1    2005: 7-1    2010: 13-3    2015: 11-3
   2001: 8-1    2006: 5-3    2011: 10-6    2016: 8-6
   2002: 9-0    2007: 6-2    2012: 13-3    2017: 8-6
   2003: 8-0    2008: 8-0    2013: 8-6     Â
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