Moon Township, Pa. – The RMU volleyball team opened its final homestand of the 2021 season Thursday, dropping a 3-0 decision to Milwaukee at the UPMC Events Center. The Colonials fell to 9-19 (.321) overall during the 2021 season, including 2-14 (.125) in the Horizon League.
MOMENTS THAT MATTERED
The Panthers, who sit atop the Horizon League standings, finished with 50 kills Thursday night as middle blockers Carmen Heilemann (21) and Ari Miller (12) combined for 33. Miller did not record an attack error in 20 total attempts for a .600 hitting percentage, while Heilemann finished with just two attack errors and posted a .655 hitting percentage. The pair set the tone early, combining for 13 kills in the opening set as Milwaukee (21-8 / 15-2 #HLVB) earned a 25-15 win.
TWO, THREE
RMU fell behind in the second set, 7-3, 15-10 and 17-12 before rallying. Outside hitter
Abby Ryan started the surge with a kill, and the Panthers suffered an attack error to help the Colonials close to within 17-14. Milwaukee called timeout and pushed its advantage to 19-14, but consecutive kills from Ryan and another attack error by the Panthers trimmed the deficit for RMU to 19-17. The Panthers again called timeout, but a service ace from setter
Ashleigh Wallin and a kill from middle blocker
Emma Brown tied the set, 19-19. A second service ace from Wallin put the Colonials on top, 20-19, before Milwaukee closed the set with a 6-2 run to grab a 25-22 win. The Panthers parlayed that into an 8-0 advantage early in the third set en route to a 25-8 victory to seal the match.
QUOTABLE
"We wanted to put pressure on them, and I thought we did that in the second set," interim head coach
Danny Doherty said. "They put some pressure on us, and we awoke the sleeping giant in the third set. We just have to hit the reset button and focus on what we did that was positive tonight. We'll work on the first touch and go from there. We have to come out with a clean slate. We have two matches and a practice left on the season, and we're going to attack it with forward thinking."
INSIDE THE BOXSCORE
Ryan paced RMU Thursday with nine kills while also racking up eight digs. She was one of three Colonials to start each of the three sets, joining Brown and middle blocker
Emma Granger. Outside hitter
Annie Monaco contributed seven kills for RMU, which finished with 30 kills and a .188 hitting percentage against the Panthers. Junior libero
Allena Carmody posted a match-high 15 digs for RMU.
UP NEXT
The Colonials continue their three-match homestand Friday with a 6:00 p.m. first serve against UIC.
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