Volleyball | 9/19/2019 11:31:00 AM
Moon Township, Pa. – The
Robert Morris University volleyball team finishes up non-conference play this weekend, carrying its unbeaten 10-0 record into the YSU Red & White Invitational.
The Colonials open the tournament on Friday, Sept. 20 at 1:30 p.m. against the host Penguins, then play at 4:00 p.m. against Central Michigan. RMU finishes up on Saturday, Sept. 21 at 11:00 a.m. against Eastern Illinois.
MATCH #11
Robert Morris Colonials (10-0, 0-0 NEC) @ Youngstown State Penguins (4-6, 0-0 Horizon League)
Friday, September 20, 2019 // 1:30 p.m. // Youngstown, Ohio – Beeghly Center
Live Video: ESPN3 // Live Stats: YSUSports.com
MATCH #12
Robert Morris Colonials (10-0, 0-0 NEC) vs. Central Michigan Chippewas (7-2, 0-0 MAC)
Friday, September 20, 2019 // 4:00 p.m. // Youngstown, Ohio – Beeghly Center
Live Video: N/A // Live Stats: YSUSports.com
MATCH #13
Robert Morris Colonials (10-0, 0-0 NEC) @ Eastern Illinois Panthers (0-9, 0-0 OVC)
Saturday, September 21, 2019 // 11:00 a.m. // Youngstown, Ohio – Beeghly Center
Live Video: N/A // Live Stats: YSUSports.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 nine remaining undefeated teams in the nation, joining Baylor, No. 24 California, Coastal Carolina, No. 13 Hawaii, Memphis, No. 17 Missouri, No. 6 Pittsburgh, and Temple. The Colonials' 10-0 record has only been matched by Pitt, and serves as a program record. 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 third nationally in blocks per set (3.22) and team total blocks (116.0), and have recorded double-figure rejections in eight of 10 matches thus far.
Emma Granger's 54 total blocks are the sixth most in Division I, while
Maria Alfano's 50 are good for 13th. In blocks per set, Alfano (1.56 bps) and Granger (1.50 bps) rank 14th and 19th, respectively.
> Emma Granger sits seventh nationally in total service aces (23) and 18th in aces per set (0.64). The junior has 137 service aces for her career, which ranks fifth all-time at RMU and is 35 off breaking the program record.
> Nikolette Zanolli sits inside the top 20 nationally in both total digs and digs per set. Zanolli has collected 197 digs in the early going, the 19th most in the nation, and ranks 16th in digs per set with an average of 5.47.
> For the third straight week, the Colonials were bestowed with a pair of
Molten/NEC weekly awards as middle blocker
Emma Granger was named both Player of the Week and Defensive Player of the Week. Granger averaged 3.23 kills, 1.31 blocks, and 1.08 service aces per set over four matches, and hit at a .418 clip with 79 swings. She was named Tournament MVP at The Henson's Hawk Invitational, and buried local rival Duquesne last Tuesday with 15 kills on a .591 hitting percentage, five blocks (two solo), and five service aces.
> 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 1,277, 360 shy of the next spot on the leaderboard. Granger moved into sole possession of fifth in service aces (137), and ranks eighth in block assists (227) and ninth in total blocks (267).
> 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 141-155 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
Robert Morris kept its undefeated record alive with three wins at The Henson's Hawk Invitational this past weekend.
This past Friday, the Colonials swept Hampton in three sets (25-11, 35-33, 25-18). RMU hit .308 as a team, with its middle blocker tandem of
Maria Alfano and
Emma Granger both connecting on half of their swings. Alfano paced the squad with 11 kills, with Granger and
Alyssa Hudak recording nine each.
Whitney Brown dished out 32 assists in the triumph.
Against Rider, RMU dropped the second set but rebounded to win in four (25-21, 15-25, 25-20, 25-15). Granger did a little bit of everything for the Colonials, tallying 11 kills, seven blocks (one solo), five digs, and four service aces.
Lauren Kolenik posted a 14-kill, 10-dig double-double, and Alfano collected 14 kills on a .303 hitting percentage.
Nikolette Zanolli dug out 22 attacks – her fourth match with 20 or more digs this season.
RMU completed the tournament sweep with a three-set triumph over tournament host Maryland Eastern Shore (25-20, 25-22, 25-18). Brown posted her fourth double-double of the season with 28 assists and 10 digs, while Hudak's 13 kills on a .320 hitting percentage led the team. Granger, Kolenik, and
Allena Carmody all served up a trio of aces in the win.
History Lesson
Youngstown State has been a regular opponent on RMU's schedule, and it owns a 29-6 edge in the all-time series over the Colonials. RMU won last year's matchup in four sets (25-23, 25-15, 24-26, 25-15) behind an 18-kill performance by
Emma Granger. Granger hit .567 for the match, adding five service aces and four blocks (one solo).
Whitney Brown dished out 48 assists and collected eight digs.
The Colonials have lost both meetings with Central Michigan, playing them once in 2007 and 2013. Six years ago, RMU fell to the Chippewas in five sets (20-25, 25-23, 25-23, 16-25, 9-15).
Hannah Hoffman provided 40 assists, seven kills, and six digs from the setter position in that contest, while
Leah Dunivan posted eight blocks (three solo).
In the only matchup between the Colonials and Eastern Illinois, the Panthers won in three sets (19-25, 23-25, 15-25) at the 2010 Pitt Blue & Gold Tournament. Hannah Veith recorded 10 blocks (one solo) to go along with eight kills, while Amanda Graham tallied six kills on 12 swings.
Know Your Opponents
Youngstown State enters its second home tournament of the season at 4-6. The Penguins won their first four matches against Saint Francis U (3-0), Bucknell (3-1), The Citadel (3-1), and Niagara (3-1), but have lost six straight since then.
Sophomore right side Brooklen Pe'a paces the team in kills per set (2.72) and averages 0.53 blocks per set. Senior outside hitter Alena Hughes and junior Alyssa Oswald also average more than two kills per frame at 2.58 and 2.12, respectively. Sophomore setter Alexia Byrnes is dishing out 8.49 assists per set, and freshman middle blocker Aimee Beaupre is rejecting 0.74 attacks per frame.
Central Michigan begins its final non-conference test with a 7-2 record. The Chippewas swept the St. Francis Brooklyn Terrier Classic (Maryland Eastern Shore, Saint Peter's, NJIT), and took two wins from both the Chippewa Invitational (Eastern Illinois, North Dakota State), and the DePaul Invitational (Valparaiso, Holy Cross).
Junior outside hitter Kalina Smith was a Preseason All-MAC selection and leads the team with 3.16 kills per set. Sophomore setter Kendal Braate quarterbacks the offense with 8.96 assists per frame, while senior libero Megan Kern digs out 4.50 attacks per set. At the net, sophomore middle blocker Megan Sivertsen averages 0.75 blocks per set, with 14 of her 18 rejections being of the solo variety.
Eastern Illinois is 0-9 to begin the 2019 campaign, competing in Central Michigan and Evansville's tournaments, as well as its own. The Panthers went five sets with North Dakota State and Evansville, only to lose both.
Senior middle hitter Maggie Runge averages 2.20 kills per set on a .325 hitting percentage and 0.74 blocks per frame. Freshman outside hitter Ireland Hieb is the team leader in kills per set (2.59), and sophomore setter Bailey Chandler paces the Panthers in assists per frame (8.46). Defensively, junior libero Madison Cunningham averages 4.09 digs per set, and sophomore middle hitter Hannah Sieg's 0.82 blocks per frame tops the team.
Coming Up
Robert Morris begins conference play with a single match on NEC opening weekend, as it hosts Merrimack at 7:00 p.m. on Friday, Sept. 27.
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