Volleyball | 9/12/2019 1:25:00 PM
Moon Township, Pa. – The
Robert Morris University volleyball team will take an unbeaten 7-0 mark into its penultimate non-conference tournament this weekend, The Henson's Hawk Invitational hosted by Maryland Eastern Shore.
The Colonials open up the invitational on Friday, Sept. 13 at 4:00 p.m. against Hampton, and play a pair on Saturday, Sept. 14 at 1:00 p.m. against Rider and at 7:00 p.m. versus the tournament hosts.
MATCH #8
Robert Morris Colonials (7-0, 0-0 NEC) vs. Hampton Pirates (3-2, 0-0 Big South)
Friday, September 13, 2019 // 4:00 p.m. // Princess Anne, Md. – Hytche Center
Live Video: N/A // Live Stats: EasternShoreHawks.com
MATCH #9
Robert Morris Colonials (7-0, 0-0 NEC) vs. Rider Broncs (2-6, 0-0 MAAC)
Saturday, September 14, 2019 // 1:00 p.m. // Princess Anne, Md. – Hytche Center
Live Video: N/A // Live Stats: EasternShoreHawks.com
MATCH #10
Robert Morris Colonials (7-0, 0-0 NEC) @ Maryland Eastern Shore Hawks (2-5, 0-0 MEAC)
Saturday, September 14, 2019 // 7:00 p.m. // Princess Anne, Md. – Hytche Center
Live Video: TBA // Live Stats: EasternShoreHawks.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 is one of 22 remaining undefeated teams in the nation, with its 7-0 record only matched by four other teams (No. 6 Pittsburgh, Rice, Stephen F. Austin, Utah) as of Sept. 11. The Colonials' 7-0 start is a program best, surpassing the previous mark of 5-0 set by the 1987 side. Only five RMU teams (1987, 2001, 2003, 2008, 2019) have begun the year with a 3-0 record, with three of those squads (2001, 2003, 2008) capturing either the Northeast Conference (NEC) regular-season title, tournament title, or both.
> The Colonials rank second nationally in blocks per set (3.44) and team total blocks (89.5), and have recorded double-figure rejections in all seven of their matches thus far.
Emma Granger's 42 total blocks are the third most in Division I, while Alfano's 37 are good for ninth. In blocks per set, Alfano (1.68 bps) and Granger (1.62 bps) slot 16th and 21st, respectively.
> Nikolette Zanolli sits inside the top 15 nationally in both total digs and digs per set. Zanolli has collected 150 digs in the early going, the 10h most in the nation, and ranks 14th in digs per set with an average of 5.77.
> For the second straight week, the Colonials were bestowed with a pair of
Molten/NEC weekly awards as middle blocker
Emma Granger was named Player of the Week, and libero
Nikolette Zanolli earned Defensive Player of the Week accolades. Granger collected Tournament MVP accolades at the Golden Flashes Classic after averaging 3.27 kills and 2.09 blocks per set, while Zanolli averaged 6.81 digs per frame.
> Nikolette Zanolli recorded 31 digs in a three-set victory over Idaho State this past Friday, tying a program three-set record. Alaina Gibson originally held the top spot by herself, tallying 31 on Sept. 1, 2006 against IPFW. Zanolli is averaging 5.96 digs per set this season, which is the 15th highest mark nationally.
> 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 1,184, 453 shy of the next spot on the leaderboard. Granger moved into sole possession of sixth in service aces (128), and ranks eighth in block assists (217) and 10th in total blocks (255).
> Emma Granger has gotten off to one of the most promising careers in program history. The two-time All-NEC First Team selection and 2017 NEC Rookie of the Year paced the circuit in service aces (0.49) last season and ranked fourth in hitting percentage (.292), sixth in blocks (0.94), and ninth in kills (2.62). The Dalton, Ohio native racked up double-digit kills in 17 matches, hit at a .300 clip on 13 occasions, and posted five or more blocks in seven contests.
> Granger's classmates
Maria Alfano and
Alyson Londot have been nailed-on starters since arriving in Moon Township. Alfano, a middle blocker from Cranberry Township, Pa., slotted seventh in the NEC in hitting percentage (.269) and 10th in blocks (0.85) last season, and reached double figures in kills on four occasions. Londot, an outside hitter out of Utica, Ohio, averaged 2.23 kills per frame and posted a pair of double-doubles. Another junior,
Whitney Brown, finished third in the league in assists (8.01) and 10th in service aces (0.26) in her first season as the primary setter.
> Redshirt sophomore
Lauren Kolenik enters the fold after transferring in from Eastern Kentucky University. The New Kensington, Pa. native averaged 1.70 kills and 0.37 blocks over 108 sets with the Colonels in 2017. She was a four-time WPIAL All-Section First Team selection in high school at Serra Catholic, and played club volleyball with Pittsburgh Elite Volleyball Club.
> The lone freshman on this year's team,
Allena Carmody, adds to the program's Pittsburgh pipeline. The Sewickley, Pa. product helped lead North Allegheny to consecutive WPIAL and PIAA AAA championships, collecting 47 consecutive victories along the way. She made Western PA Big 56 Athletic Conference All-Section First Team as a senior, and obtained All-Section and All-WPIAL honors in three of her varsity seasons.
> Following the 2018 season, the Colonials lost three players to graduation in
Liz Campbell,
Taylor Lord, and
Allie Yurkovich. Lord owns a pair of top 10 slots in the RMU record books, claiming eighth in service aces (111) behind Granger and ninth in digs (1,384). Yurkovich was a four-year starter at libero who played in 460 total sets – ranking seventh in program history – and collected the fourth-most digs with 1,670.
> 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 138-155 mark overall at RMU, and seen his players earn 16 All-NEC nods – nine of those being First Team plaudits.
> 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.
Last Time Out
On Tuesday, Robert Morris defeated Duquesne for the first time in 12 seasons, knocking off its local rivals in three sets (25-21, 25-21, 25-18). The Colonials hit .381 as a team, recorded 10.0 total team blocks, and served up six aces in the victory.
Emma Granger led the team with 15 kills on a .591 hitting percentage, adding five blocks (two solo) and five aces.
Alyssa Hudak collected 14 kills, while
Lauren Kolenik (7 kills),
Emily Devlin (6 kills, .600 hitting pct.), and
Maria Alfano (6 kills, .462 hitting pct.) all chipped in offensively. Devlin paced RMU with six rejections (one solo), and
Whitney Brown dished out 43 assists.
Over their 12-year drought, the Colonials had taken just five sets against the Dukes. RMU's previous win against Duquesne came on Sept. 25, 2007 in four sets.
History Lesson
The Colonials have played Hampton just once in their history, earning a four-set win 23 years ago in a neutral-site match at the 1996 Howard Tournament.
This will be the first time in 18 seasons that RMU and Rider have played each other. The Colonials grabbed the last win in the series against their former conference foe, defeating the Broncs in four sets at the 2001 US Airways Classic.
RMU is 2-1 all-time against Maryland Eastern Shore. The Hawks were victorious in the last meeting, a four-set match in the 2007 UMES Tournament. The Colonials last defeated UMES at the 2001 Morgan State Invitational in straight sets.
Know Your Opponents
Hampton owns a 3-2 record to begin 2019, with a pair of three-set wins over Norfolk State and a five-set triumph against St. Francis Brooklyn. The Pirates' two losses both came in five frames, against Saint Peter's and Siena.
Sophomore outside hitter Gabby Calloway leads the Hampton offense with 2.86 kills per set and a .237 hitting percentage. First-year Genevieve Reynolds is the reigning Big South Freshman of the Week, averaging 1.38 kills and 0.86 blocks over 21 sets. Junior Lena Reed-Petracek and sophomore Brooke Irvin share the setting duties, averaging 6.43 and 4.06 assists per frame, respectively.
Rider is 2-6 in the early going, claiming victories over Norfolk State (3-0) and Radford (3-0). The Broncs lost their first six matches of the season, two of those coming against NEC teams in Central Connecticut (0-3) and Sacred Heart (1-3) at Georgetown.
Freshman opposite hitter Morgan Romano is a two-time MAAC Rookie of the Week, as she averages 4.03 kills per set on a .220 hitting percentage and 0.62 blocks per frame. Senior libero Rachelle Runyon also earned conference weekly honors after this past week, as her 4.41 digs per set leads the team. Junior setter Danielle Blanco quarterbacks the offense, dishing out 9.61 assists per frame.
Maryland Eastern Shore has a 2-5 record thus far, with wins over Saint Peter's (3-0) and NJIT (3-1). The Hawks are currently on a four-match losing streak, with one of those defeats coming to St. Francis Brooklyn in four sets.
Sophomore outside hitter Alexis Lee paces UMES in kills per set (2.81), while junior right side Tatjana Trikovic averages 2.30 kills and 2.11 digs per frame. Senior setter Ivana Blazevic does a little bit of everything for the Hawks, averaging 7.37 assists, 2.07 digs, and 0.74 blocks per set. Blazevic also paces the team with 18 service aces.
Coming Up
Robert Morris concludes the non-conference slate next weekend at the Youngstown State Invitational. The Colonials will square off with the hosts at 1:30 p.m. on Friday, Sept. 20, followed by a 4:00 p.m. tilt with Central Michigan. RMU finishes off the tournament at 11:00 a.m. on Saturday, Sept. 21 against Eastern Illinois.
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