Moon Township, Pa. – The
Robert Morris University volleyball team finishes off a four-match road swing on Feb. 15-16 when it travels to Purdue Fort Wayne. The Colonials took their bye last week and come into this series at 0-4, whereas the Mastodons enter the two-match set at 4-2.
MATCHES #5 & 6
Robert Morris Colonials (0-4, 0-4 HL) @ Purdue Fort Wayne Mastodons (4-2, 4-2 HL)
February 15-16, 2021 // 6:00 p.m. / 4:00 p.m. // Fort Wayne, Ind. – Gates Sports Center (1,800)
Live Video: ESPN+ (Mon. / Tues.) // Live Stats: GoMastodons.com
History w/ Purdue Fort Wayne
Overall: 0-3 | Home: 0-2 | Away: 0-1 | Neutral: 0-0 | Streak: L3
Last Game: Sept. 15, 2018 – Moon Township, Pa. – Purdue Fort Wayne 3, Robert Morris 1
RMU is 0-3 against Purdue Fort Wayne, with its most recent meeting against the Mastodons coming as the final match of the 2018 RMU Sheraton Invitational at the North Athletic Complex. The Colonials dropped a 3-1 match against PFW, despite a 16-kill performance from
Emma Granger. Granger hit at a .462 clip and added four block assists in the defeat, as RMU was coming off marathon wins over Eastern Michigan (3-2) and Houston (3-2) earlier in the invitational.
Scouting the Mastodons
Led by seventh-year head coach Steve Florio, Purdue Fort Wayne enters this two-game series at 4-2 with sweeps of Youngstown State and IUPUI. The Mastodons are coming off an 18-15 (11-5 Summit) season in 2019, one that saw them compete in the National Invitational Volleyball Championship (NIVC) against Bowling Green. PFW was tabbed to finish seventh in the Horizon League Preseason Coaches' Poll, receiving 57 points in the 11-team ballot.
For the second time in two weeks, senior outside hitter Katie Crowe was picked as a Horizon League Player of the Week. Crowe totaled 33.5 points in the Mastodons' sweep of IUPUI, tallying 5.00 kills per set on a .446 hitting percentage, with 2.33 digs and 0.50 blocks per frame. Crowe had 22 kills on Feb. 9 against the Jaguars, which is the third most in any Division I three-set match this season.
WB2K
In the Colonials' last match, senior setter
Whitney Brown became the eighth player in program history to record 2,000 career assists. Brown entered the night needing three to meet the milestone, and enters this series with 2,017 to her name. She now sits 39 assists shy of moving into sole possession of seventh place on the RMU all-time leaderboard, a spot that is currently occupied by Alyssa Bennett (2008-09).
Dynamic DuO-h-i-o
RMU's offensive attack this spring has been led by Buckeye State duo
Alyson Londot and
Alyssa Hudak. Londot, a senior, has a team-high 40 kills (2.67 per set) and is converting at a .252 clip. She has reached double-digit kills twice in four matches, with a season-high 13 kills on a .379 hitting percentage coming on Feb. 1 at UIC. Hudak, a junior, has netted 34 kills (2.43 per set) and also has a season best of 13, achieved on Feb. 1. She also has recorded 33 digs (2.36 per set) through four matches, with two of her efforts good for double-doubles.
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 returns home for a pair of matches at the UPMC Events Center against Wright State on Feb. 22-23. The Colonials and Raiders clash at 6:00 p.m. for Monday's match, and at 5:00 p.m. the following day.
Follow The Colonials: Facebook | Twitter | Instagram | YouTube
