Moon Township, Pa. – The
Robert Morris University volleyball team starts a three-week stretch away from the UPMC Events Center, starting with a pair at UIC on Feb. 1-2. The Colonials opened the 2021 spring slate by dropping two matches to Oakland, while UIC grabbed wins of 3-1 and 3-0 against Purdue Fort Wayne on opening weekend.
MATCHES #3 & 4
Robert Morris Colonials (0-2, 0-2 HL) @ UIC Flames (2-0, 2-0 HL)
February 1-2, 2021 // 7:00 p.m. / 5:00 p.m. // Chicago, Ill. – Flames Athletic Center
Live Video: ESPN+ (Mon. / Tues.) // Live Stats: UICFlames.com
History w/ UIC
Overall: 0-1 | Home: 0-1 | Away: 0-0 | Neutral: 0-0 | Streak: L1
Last Game: Sept. 27, 2009 – Moon Township, Pa. – UIC 3, Robert Morris 2
The only previous meeting between RMU and UIC happened in the 2009 season, as the Colonials fell to the Flames in a narrow five-set match (20-25, 25-14, 25-18, 17-25, 11-15) at the Charles L. Sewall Center. Alyssa Bennett posted a 43-assist, 10-dig double-double and was one of four RMU players that recorded double figures in digs. Hannah Veith led the hosts with 16 kills at a .538 clip, adding six blocks (one solo) in the defeat.
Scouting the Flames
Guided by fourth-year head coach Justin Ingram, UIC enters this two-game set at 2-0 with a pair of victories over Purdue Fort Wayne. The Flames finished 20-11 (9-7 HL) last season and were tabbed to finish sixth in the Horizon League Preseason Coaches' Poll, receiving 62 points and a first-place vote in the 11-team ballot.
Junior outside hitter Paola Santiago, the reigning Horizon League Player of the Week, is coming off a series that saw her average 3.43 kills, 3.71 digs, and 1.00 blocks per set. She was an All-Horizon League First Team recipient as a freshman in 2018, recording 10 double-doubles and 2.89 kills per frame. Freshman middle blocker Zahria Woodard also was impressive against the Mastodons, hitting at a .488 clip with 22 kills and seven block assists over the two-match series.
Doubled Double-Doubles
Senior setter
Whitney Brown began the 2021 spring season with a pair of double-doubles, as she averaged 9.38 assists and 4.12 digs per set over the two matches. Brown opened the campaign with 42 helpers, 19 digs, an ace, and a block assist in RMU's five-set defeat against Oakland last Monday. The following evening, the Pittsburgh product tallied 33 assists, 14 digs, and three aces versus the Golden Grizzlies. Brown now has 22 career double-doubles to her name, and is 47 assists shy of reaching 2,000 for her career, which would make her the eighth player in program history to meet that milestone.
Welcome Back
RMU welcomed a pair of senior outside hitters back from season-ending injuries last week, as
Alyson Londot and
Mirna Sarjanovic both contributed in the Colonials' opening two matches. Londot tallied 20 kills, four digs, and three block assists over the series, and hit at a .246 clip over 61 swings. Sarjanovic provided nine digs in seven frames. Both players were lost early in the 2019 campaign, as Londot missed all but RMU's opening match on Aug. 30, 2019, while Sarjanovic last played on Sept. 7, 2019.
The Leader
Robert Morris head coach
Dale Starr, the program's all-time leader in coaching wins with 156, enters his 11th season in charge this spring. Starr was named NEC Coach of the Year in 2019, lifting the Colonials from a fifth-place projection to a 15-1 league record and first regular-season title in 11 years. He netted his 300th career win (154 at RMU, 96 at McNeese, 50 at Mississippi University for Women) on Nov. 8, 2019 against Central Connecticut, which was the match that clinched the regular-season championship for RMU. Under Starr's guidance, the Colonials were 103-45 (.696) in the NEC with eight league postseason appearances, including the 2015 NEC Tournament title and subsequent NCAA Tournament berth.
Wonder Woman
Senior middle blocker
Emma Granger will go down as one of the best players to ever put on a RMU uniform, and she's back to lead the Colonials into their inaugural Horizon League campaign. Granger's 2019 was special, as she ranked sixth nationally in blocks (1.50), ninth in aces (0.56), 23rd in points (5.03), and 33rd in hitting percentage (.381), and finished the season with a conference-record tying seven NEC Player of the Week designations. She also broke school records in career aces (174), single-season total blocks (160), and single-match kills (26) and points (33.0) as a junior.
The Dalton, Ohio product brought home NEC Player of the Year unanimously and became the first player in program history to collect All-Region and All-America accolades.
Smarts and Sets
Fourth-year setter
Whitney Brown became the first female junior student-athlete in school history to garner Academic All-America recognition in 2019, as she was named to the College Sports Information Directors of America (CoSIDA) Academic All-America Second Team. Brown, who also was the NEC Fall Scholar-Athlete of the Year and All-NEC Second Team member last season, led the conference in assists (10.06) and recorded 11 double-doubles in her breakout campaign. A biology major with a perfect 4.00 grade point average, the Pittsburgh product is also a two-time Academic All-District II selection, also earning the honor as a sophomore in 2018.
New to RMU
The Colonials welcome a trio of freshmen into the fold this spring in
Emma Brown,
Annie Monaco, and
Abby Ryan. All three student-athletes signed scholarship agreements or National Letters of Intent (NLI) with RMU in November of 2019, and provide a veteran-laden team with the depth it lost due to injuries last season.
Brown, a middle blocker from Westerville, Ohio, helped lead St. Francis DeSales High School to the 2019 Ohio Division I state crown over the nation's No. 1 team in Padua. She was named to three All-CCL teams, earning First Team accolades as a junior and senior, and was recognized as on the All-District First Team and All-Ohio Honorable Mention in 2019. She made the
Under Armour Watch List in three consecutive seasons, and hit at a .765 clip with 176 total blocks over her high school career.
Monaco, an outside hitter and setter from Dover, Ohio, captured three League titles, two Sectional crowns, and a pair of District championships with New Philadelphia High School. She was the League Player of the Year as a senior, and earned All-Ohio Honorable Mention accolades in 2018 and 2019. Monaco was also an All-District 5 First Team pick twice.
Ryan, an outside hitter from Orchard Park, N.Y., collected two division titles and a Section 6 crown over her high school career at Orchard Park. She was named to the All-Western NY Team and All-State Large Schools Fourth Team in 2018, and also collected Maroon Key MVP. Ryan posted a school-record 1,400 kills, adding 472 digs, 181 aces, and 101 blocks over her high school career.
Next Up
RMU will take next week off before returning to the court for a pair of road matches at Purdue Fort Wayne on Feb. 15-16. The Colonials and Mastodons start at 6:00 p.m. for Monday's match, and at 4:00 p.m. the following day.
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