Moon Township, Pa. – The Robert Morris University volleyball team returns home for the first time in four weeks on Feb. 22-23 when it hosts Wright State. The Colonials are currently searching for their first win at 0-6, while the Raiders are one of two league unbeatens at 6-0 and sit at 6-1 overall.
MATCH #7 & 8
Wright State Raiders (6-1, 6-0 HL) @ Robert Morris Colonials (0-6, 0-6 HL)
February 22-23, 2021 // 6:00 p.m. / 5:00 p.m. // Moon Township, Pa. – UPMC Events Center (4,000)
Live Video: ESPN+ (Mon. / Tues.) // Live Stats: RMUColonials.com
On-Air Talent: Spencer Witt (play-by-play)
History w/ Wright State
Overall: 0-3 | Home: 0-1 | Away: 0-2 | Neutral: 0-0 | Streak: L3
Last Game: Sept. 13, 2013 – Dayton, Ohio – Wright State 3, Robert Morris 1
RMU is 0-3 against Wright State with non-conference meetings coming during the 1998, 2008, and 2013 seasons. In the most recent matching on Sept. 13, 2013, the Colonials fell to the Raiders in four sets (23-25, 21-25, 25-20, 26-28) to kick off the Wright State Invitational. Arden Fisher led RMU with 19.0 points on 16 kills, two aces, and a pair of block assists, while April Krivoniak provided 10 kills, seven block assists, seven digs, and four assists. Becky Jay posted eight rejections (one solo) and six kills from her middle blocker position, and Melissa Bograd led the team with 20 digs.
Scouting the Raiders
Led by third-year head coach Allie Matters, Wright State enters this two-game set at 6-1 with sweeps of Milwaukee, Northern Kentucky, and Oakland – dropping only one total set between those six victories. The Raiders captured the Horizon League regular-season championship in 2019 with a 13-3 record, and earned an at-large bid for the NCAA Tournament following a 24-6 campaign. WSU was tabbed as the favorite in the Horizon League Preseason Coaches' Poll, receiving 112 points and five of 11 first-place votes.
Senior middle blocker Teddie Sauer leads the Raiders in kills (2.67 per set), blocks (1.07 per set), points (3.54 per set), and hitting percentage (.304), and ranks second in service aces (0.33 per set). She is one of three WSU players averaging 2.00 kills per frame, joining sophomore outside hitter Megan Alders (2.59) and senior right side Celia Powers (2.46). Junior setter Lainey Stephenson runs the offense at 9.08 assists per set, and third-year libero Jenna Story leads the nation in digs per set with an impressive mark of 6.58.
Moving On Up
RMU's most recent series at Purdue Fort Wayne featured some movement in the career record books as senior duo Whitney Brown and Maria Alfano both climbed up spots in their respective categories.
Brown, a fourth-year setter, moved into seventh all-time in career assists by upping her total to 2,063. She surpassed Alyssa Bennett (2008-09) on the leaderboard, and now is 112 shy of tying Michelle Bartlett (2,175; 1999-01) for sixth place. The Pittsburgh product became the eighth player in program history to record 2,000 assists in a career on Feb. 2 at UIC, and is averaging 9.20 helpers per set this season.
Alfano, a senior middle blocker, jumped into the 10th spot for career total blocks with 269 to her name. She topped Amanda Craig (2009-12) in the rankings, and now is 14 away from matching Kristin Thompson (283; 2012-15) for ninth place. The Cranberry Township, Pa. native has accumulated 238 block assists over her career, and is within striking distance of Thompson (243) and Leah Dunivan (246; 2013-16) for eighth and seventh places, respectively, in the program rankings.
Hey Rookie
Freshman outside hitter Abby Ryan has been a key to RMU's offensive attack this season, as she leads the team in kills per set (2.72) and shares the top spot in points per set (2.83). Ryan has paced the team in kills in four of six matches, reaching double figures in each of those contests – highlighted by a season-high 12 coming in her collegiate debut on Jan. 25 against Oakland.
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.
Next Up
RMU begins another four-match road swing on March 1-2 when it travels to Cleveland State. The Colonials and Vikings play at 6:00 p.m. on Monday, and at 5:00 p.m. the following day.
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