Volleyball | 10/3/2019 10:31:00 AM
Moon Township, Pa. – The
Robert Morris University volleyball team hits the road for the first time in Northeast Conference (NEC) play with a trip up to New England to play Bryant and Sacred Heart.
The Colonials two-game swing takes them to Smithfield, R.I. on Friday, Oct. 4 for a 6:00 p.m. opening serve against the Bulldogs, followed by another 6:00 p.m. start on Saturday, Oct. 5 versus the Pioneers.
MATCH #15
Robert Morris Colonials (11-3, 1-0 NEC) @ Bryant Bulldogs (8-11, 3-0 NEC)
Friday, October 4, 2019 // 6:00 p.m. // Smithfield, R.I. – Chace Athletic Center
Live Video: NEC Front Row // Live Stats: BryantBulldogs.com
MATCH #16
Robert Morris Colonials (11-3, 1-0 NEC) @ Sacred Heart Pioneers (5-9, 1-1 NEC)
Saturday, October 5, 2019 // 6:00 p.m. // Fairfield, Conn. – William H. Pitt Center
Live Video: NEC Front Row // Live Stats: SacredHeartPioneers.com
Know Bobby Mo
> Robert Morris returns a lot of experience with 11 players featuring in last season's side, but does not have a senior on its roster for the first time since 2013. The Colonials have 13 players in all on this year's squad – seven juniors, five sophomores (one redshirt sophomore), and one freshman.
> RMU was one of the eight remaining undefeated teams in NCAA Division I volleyball before suffering its first defeat. The Colonials' 11 wins are tied for the 23rd most nationally and are three more than the next NEC team has.
> The Colonials' 10-0 start was the second of its kind in athletic department history. Shattering the previous program record for best start at 5-0 (1987), RMU's 10-0 mark matched the 2000 football team for the top spot in department annals. Only five Colonial volleyball teams (1987, 2001, 2003, 2008, 2019) started a season with a 3-0 record, with three of those squads (2001, 203, 2008) capturing either the NEC regular-season title, tournament title, or both.
> In RMU's last match against Merrimack, it held the opponents to single digits in the second and third frames (25-17, 25-6, 25-9), accomplishing that feat for the first time since Nov. 12, 2011 against Quinnipiac. Additionally, it also marked the first time since then – and the 10th time since 2004 – that the Colonials hit over .400 in a match as they converted at a .405 clip on 79 swings.
> The Colonials have been bestowed with six total
Molten/NEC weekly awards this season.
Emma Granger has three to her name, winning back-to-back Player of the Week honors on Sept. 9 and Sept. 16, along with Defensive Player of the Week on Sept. 16.
Whitney Brown was named Co-Player of the Week on Sept. 3, and
Maria Alfano and
Nikolette Zanolli captured consecutive Defensive Player of the Week plaudits on Sept. 3 and Sept. 9.
> Both
Whitney Brown and
Emma Granger have moved into the top 10 of the RMU career record books this season. Brown sits ninth in assists with 1,414, 223 shy of the next spot on the leaderboard. Granger owns the fifth spot in service aces (143), sixth in block assists (248), and eighth in total blocks (288).
> Dale Starr is in his 10th season in charge of the Colonials. The 1995 graduate of Northern Colorado has led RMU to seven NEC Tournaments, a pair of league runner-up finishes, the 2015 NEC Tournament title and subsequent NCAA Tournament berth. Starr has an 88-44 conference record and 142-158 mark overall at RMU, and seen his players earn 16 All-NEC nods – nine of those being First Team plaudits. For his career, he is 13 wins shy of 300 for his career, collecting 288 across three coaching stops (Robert Morris, McNeese, Mississippi University for Women).
> Starr's squads have excelled in the classroom, and last year's was no different. Robert Morris won its second straight NEC Team GPA Award – the program's sixth overall under Starr's watch – with a mark of 3.846, which was the highest for any NEC team since 2014-15, male or female. The Colonials were the recipients of the NEC Institutional Academic Award with a cumulative GPA of 3.432, which was the athletic department's third such accolade and first since 2014.
Team Rankings
> 1st in NEC, 7th in NCAA in blocks per set (2.94)
> 1st in NEC, 13th in NCAA in opponent hitting percentage (.147)
> 1st in NEC, 23rd in NCAA in digs per set (16.84)
> 1st in NEC, 33rd in NCAA in win-loss percentage (.786)
> 1st in NEC in hitting percentage (.231)
> 1st in NEC in assists per set (11.84)
> 1st in NEC in kills per set (13.10)
> 1st in NEC in service aces per set (1.62)
Individual Rankings
Emma Granger:
> 1st in NEC, 7th in NCAA in blocks per set (1.50)
> 1st in NEC, 11th in NCAA in service aces per set (0.58)
> 2nd in NEC in hitting percentage (.361)
> 4th in NEC in kills per set (2.94)
Maria Alfano:
> 2nd in NEC, 30th in NCAA in blocks per set (1.33)
> 3rd in NEC in hitting percentage (.337)
> 7th in NEC in kills per set (2.72)
Nikolette Zanolli:
> 1st in NEC, 13th in NCAA in digs per set (5.28)
Whitney Brown:
> 1st in NEC in assists per set (9.57)
Skylar Clements:
> 3rd in the NEC in blocks per set (0.92)
Allena Carmody:
> 4th in NEC in service aces per set (0.36)
Alyssa Hudak:
> 8th in NEC in kills per set (2.72)
> 9th in NEC in hitting percentage (.255)
Erika Wilt:
> 10th in NEC in digs per set (3.04)
Last Time Out
Robert Morris moved to 8-2 in NEC opening matches under
Dale Starr with a comfortable three-set triumph over Merrimack (25-17, 25-6, 25-9) this past Friday at the UPMC Events Center.
The Colonials' outside hitters did most of the heavy lifting in the attack, with
Lauren Kolenik (14) and
Alyssa Hudak (11) both in double figures for kills. Hudak hit at an eye-popping .786 mark, while Kolenik connected at a .393 rate with five digs, two service aces, and two blocks to fill the stat sheet.
Defensively, RMU held the Warriors at a negative hitting percentage (-.011), which marked the first time that has happened since Sept. 2, 2017 when Coppin State hit -.009 against the Colonials.
History Lesson
Robert Morris once owned a 12-4 edge in the all-time series against Bryant, but the Bulldogs have won six straight matches over the last three seasons – a stretch that includes two five-set wins last year.
The Colonials' last victory over Bryant came in the 2015 NEC Tournament semifinals, a four-set triumph (25-20, 23-25, 25-13, 25-22) that set the stage for the program's eighth league crown.
April Krivoniak hit a .424 clip and posted a 14-kill, 14-dig double-double, joining
Arden Fisher in that category as the outside hitter tallied 11 kills and 28 digs.
RMU is 23-11 all-time against Sacred Heart after a pair of four-set defeats last season. The Colonials have fallen to the Pioneers in the teams' last four matchups.
The last RMU triumph in the series was a thriller, a five-set road comeback (23-25, 23-25, 25-22, 25-10, 18-16) on Oct. 27, 2017.
Maria Alfano converted at a .436 rate with a team-high 18 kills and seven blocks, while
Emma Granger posted a 13-kill, 10-block (two solo) double-double. Brianna Frakes (44a, 15d) and
Taylor Lord (10k, 10d) also registered double-doubles as the Colonials moved to 6-4 in the league.
Know Your Opponent
Bryant has already played three NEC contests, picking up road triumphs at Fairleigh Dickinson (3-0), St. Francis Brooklyn (3-2), and Merrimack (3-0). The Bulldogs are 8-11 overall and have gone 3-3 at home this season, with wins over North Dakota (3-0), Marist (3-0), and Providence (3-1).
Freshman outside hitter Riley James ranks second in the NEC in service aces (0.41) and tied for ninth in kills (2.67). Junior libero Erika Ward slots seventh in digs (3.24) and sophomore middle blocker Haley O'Brien is ninth in blocks (0.68). Junior Alisi Motu'apuaka (4.97 aps) and freshman Mia Cergol (4.05 aps) share the primary setting duties.
Bryant ranks in the top three of the NEC in assists (11.07, 3rd), kills (12.14, 3rd), and service aces (1.47, 3rd), but sits in the back half of the conference in blocks (1.39, 6th) and digs (13.46, 7th).
Sacred Heart split on NEC opening weekend, knocking off St. Francis Brooklyn (3-2) before falling to Long Island (2-3). The Pioneers went 2-1 in their home tournament earlier in the season, defeating NJIT (3-0) and Northeastern (3-0).
Sophomore setter Sarah Ciszek does it all for SHU, ranking second in the NEC in assists (8.90), fifth in hitting percentage (.305), and seventh in service aces (0.35). Redshirt senior Liisel Nelis is fifth on the circuit in service aces (0.35) and sophomore opposite hitter Jillian Kim ranks 10th (0.29), while second-year setter Emma Smallcomb slots fifth in digs (3.75).
Sacred Heart trails RMU for the top spot in four categories: assists (11.12), kills (12.17), service aces (1.53), and digs (15.12). The Pioneers also rank third in opponent hitting percentage (.221), but their blocking efforts aren't much of a factor in that, as they slot seventh in that category (1.36).
Coming Up
Following its New England double, Robert Morris returns home for three matches in four days. The Colonials open the stretch on Wednesday, Oct. 9 against Saint Francis U, then host Fairleigh Dickinson on Friday, Oct. 11 and Long Island on Saturday, Oct. 12. The Colonials' match against the Knights will be their
Dating & Domestic Violence Awareness Night, with donations going to the Women's Center and Shelter of Greater Pittsburgh.
Follow the Colonials: Twitter |
Instagram |
Facebook
