Volleyball | 11/21/2019 2:56:00 PM
Moon Township, Pa. – For the first time since 2008, the
Robert Morris University volleyball team will be hosting the Northeast Conference (NEC) Tournament this weekend, as the Colonials take on No. 4 seed Central Connecticut at 3:30 p.m. in a semifinal on Friday, Nov. 22. The other semifinal will consist of No. 2 seed Sacred Heart and No. 3 seed Long Island, with the winners meeting for the NEC title at 4:00 p.m. on Saturday.
MATCH #30
#4 Central Connecticut Blue Devils (14-14, 10-6 NEC) @ #1 Robert Morris Colonials (25-4, 15-1 NEC)
Friday, November 22, 2019 // 3:30 p.m. // Moon Township, Pa. – UPMC Events Center (4,000)
2019 Northeast Conference Tournament Semifinals
Live Video: ESPN3 & NEC Front Row // Live Stats: RMUColonials.com
Notes Package: Central Connecticut // Robert Morris
History w/ Central Connecticut
Overall: 24-15 | Home: 11-8 | Away: 10-6 | Neutral: 3-1 | Streak: W2
Last Match: Nov. 8, 2019 – Moon Township, Pa. – Robert Morris 3, Central Connecticut 2
Robert Morris is 24-15 all-time against Central Connecticut, and owns a season sweep of this year's double round robin play. Prior to that, the Colonials had lost four consecutive matches to the Blue Devils over the 2017 and 2018 seasons.
RMU secured the NEC regular-season title in the teams' last meeting, a five-set victory (25-18, 25-23, 17-25, 21-25, 15-8) at the UPMC Events Center on Nov. 8. The Colonials withstood a furious comeback by the Blue Devils, opening up a 7-2 edge in the final set to bring home the win.
Emma Granger posted a single-match record 33.0 points, thanks to a record-tying 26 kills, eight block assists, and three service aces.
In New Britain, RMU bounced back from dropping the first set to defeat Central Connecticut in four frames (18-25, 25-21, 25-20, 25-16). The Colonials hit .308 over 159 swings, posted 14.0 total team blocks, and saw two players reach double-doubles in
Whitney Brown (55a, 10d) and
Lauren Kolenik (14k, 15d).
Scouting the Blue Devils
Led by 20th-year head coach Linda Sagnelli, Central Connecticut qualified for its fourth straight NEC Tournament with a 10-6 record in league action. The Blue Devils closed the regular season splitting their last five matches, using a 3-1 victory over Bryant to top the Bulldogs for the fourth seed.
CCSU has one of the NEC's top liberos in junior Ashlyn Eisenga, who paces the circuit in digs at 4.70 per set. The duo of senior outside hitter Gala Galabova and freshman opposite hitter Isabelle Roufs rank third and fifth, respectively, in blocks at 0.95 and 0.88 per frame. Junior outside hitter Emma Henderson slots fifth in kills (3.02), ninth in service aces (0.31), and 10th in digs (3.06). Senior opposite hitter Madelyn Kaprelyan is the reigning NEC Player of the Year and has six triple-doubles this season.
The Blue Devils are near the top of every statistical category except service aces, where they rank sixth (1.32). CCSU is second in hitting percentage (.222), blocks (2.04), and digs (16.36), third in opponent hitting percentage (.189) and assists (11.94), and fourth in kills (12.63).
Take the Crown
For the first time since 2008, Robert Morris will enter the NEC Tournament as the top seed and regular-season champions. The regular-season crown is the seventh all-time for the Colonials, with the previous six coming over a 10-year span (1999, 2001, 2002, 2003, 2004, 2008). RMU's 15 conference triumphs are a program record, surpassing the 2010 and 2012 sides by two victories.
The Colonials are in search of their ninth NEC Tournament championship and seventh NCAA Tournament berth. RMU previously won the tournament title in 1992, 1993, 1999, 2000, 2001, 2002, 2003, and 2015, and put on its dancing shoes over those last six seasons.
Granger Things
Junior middle blocker
Emma Granger established a new league record on Monday, winning her seventh
Molten/NEC Player of the Week award of the season. The previous standard of six was originally established by Long Island's Annika Foit in 2012 and Cristina Pintilie in 2002.
Granger's seven Player of the Week honors have all come in consecutive-week stretches, winning Sept. 9, Sept. 16, Oct. 14, Oct. 21, Nov. 4, Nov. 11, and now this week. She also has three
Molten/NEC Defensive Player of the Week accolades to her name this season (Sept. 16, Oct. 7, Nov. 4), and has a total of 16 weekly league awards in her career - seven more than anyone else ever at Robert Morris.
In the final weekend of the regular season, Granger averaged 5.86 kills, 1.29 blocks, 0.57 service aces, and 7.07 points per set in matches at Fairleigh Dickinson and Long Island, while hitting .529 over 70 swings. The junior tallied 16 kills on a .483 hitting percentage with four block assists against the Knights, then rattled off 25 kills at a .561 clip with five assisted rejections and three aces at LIU. Granger's 30.5-point performance against the Sharks is the second highest total in single-match history, missing her own record by 2.5 points.
The General
Head coach
Dale Starr has put together the finest coaching job of his career, taking a senior-less Robert Morris squad that lost two outside hitters to season-ending knee injuries and was originally picked fifth in the NEC Preseason Coaches' Poll and to a 25-4 record and regular-season title.
It's been a season of milestones for Starr. On Nov. 2 against Sacred Heart, he picked up his 100th NEC win with a four-set victory. Six days later against Central Connecticut, the head coach captured his 300th career victory in a five-set thriller. The winningest coach in program history now 156 of his 302 triumphs at Robert Morris, along with 96 in six seasons at McNeese, and 50 in three seasons at Mississippi University for Women.
Home Sweet Home
The Colonials have certainly enjoyed playing at their new home, the UPMC Events Center, this season. RMU owns a perfect 12-0 record at the venue, dropping a total of seven sets in the 4,000-seat arena.
Robert Morris has never gone undefeated at home over a full season. The Colonials were 12-7 (.632) in two seasons at their temporary home venue, the North Athletic Complex, after posting a 184-119 (.607) mark during their time at the Charles L. Sewall Center.
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