Moon Township, Pa. – The RMU volleyball team continued a four-match homestand Friday at the UPMC Events Center, dropping a 3-1 decision to Purdue Fort Wayne. In dipping to 7-8 (.467) overall during the 2021 season, including 0-3 in the Horizon League, the Colonials lost their third consecutive match.
MOMENTS THAT MATTERED
RMU snapped a streak of five consecutive matches decided in three sets by taking the first set from the Mastodons, 25-23. Graduate student
Alyson Londot and sophomore
Annie Monaco combined for eight kills against just one error in 16 attempts to bolster the Colonials, with senior
Nikolette Zanolli clinching the win with one of RMU's eight service aces on the match. The first set featured 10 ties and five lead changes, which was a harbinger of things to come.
BACK AND FORTH
In all, the match featured 32 ties and 18 lead changes, including 11 and seven, respectively, in the second set that Purdue Fort Wayne (3-15 / 1-4 #HLVB) claimed, 26-24. The Mastodons owned a 22-20 edge in the second after a service ace by Madelyn Wurster, but RMU climbed back to tie it, 24-24, on a service ace from junior
Allena Carmody. The Mastodons scored the next point on an attack error by the Colonials and tied the match, 1-1, on a kill from Maggie Castleman. Carmody finished with three service aces and seven digs overall for RMU.
DOUBLE-DOUBLE
The tilt against Purdue Fort Wayne featured the first career double-double from freshman
Ashleigh Wallin, who established career highs in both assists (35) and digs (10). It marked the third time in the young career that the rookie dished out at least 30 helpers in a match, as Wallin also finished with 30 in her NCAA debut, a 3-2 win over UMES (8/27), while also notching 34 in a 3-2 win over Coppin State (9/10).
THE TURNING TIDE
Purdue Fort Wayne recorded an attack percentage of just .081 in the first set but followed by hitting .417 in set two and .391 in the third set, a 25-21 win. The Mastodons finished at .269 for the match, posting 56 kills against 20 errors in 134 attempts. Castleman recorded a game-high 15 kills while finishing with a .312 attack percentage, while Katie Crowe notched 14 kills and 12 digs and Ramei Jackson recorded 11 kills and a team-high .381 hitting percentage. Purdue Fort Wayne used a key 13-5 run in the third set, turning a 10-10 tie into a 23-15 lead en route to the victory. During the spurt the Mastodons received consecutive aces from Castleman and a pair of kills from Jackson.
INSIDE THE BOXSCORE
Monaco recorded her third career double-digit effort in kills, tying for team-high honors with senior
Alyssa Hudak with 13. Monaco also notched a pair of service aces and finished a dig shy of a double-double of her own. Graduate student
Emma Granger added 10 kills and five block assists as the trio combined for 42.5 of RMU's 64 points against the Mastodons.
UP NEXT
The Colonials conclude their four-match homestand at the UPMC Events Center Saturday with a 4:00 p.m. first serve against IUPUI. The Colonials took a pair from the Jaguars last spring at the UPMC Events Center, earning a 3-1 victory March 15, 2021, before sweeping IUPUI March 16, 2021.
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