Moon Township, Pa. – The
Robert Morris University volleyball team finishes up its 2021 spring season with a doubleheader against Northern Kentucky on Monday, March 22. The Colonials are riding a three-game winning streak and enter this matchup at 3-11 (3-11 HL), while the Norse sit at 8-3 overall and 7-3 in the Horizon League.
MATCH #15/16
Northern Kentucky Norse (8-3, 7-3 HL) @ Robert Morris Colonials (3-11, 3-11 HL)
March 22, 2021 // 12:00 p.m. / 6:00 p.m // Moon Township, Pa. – UPMC Events Center (4,000)
Live Video: ESPN+ (Game 1 / Game 2) // Live Stats: RMUColonials.com
History w/ Northern Kentucky
Overall: 0-1 | Home: 0-0 | Away: 0-0 | Neutral: 0-1 | Streak: L1
Last Game: Sept. 1, 2017 – Pittsburgh, Pa. – Northern Kentucky 3, Robert Morris 0
RMU lost its only previous meeting against Northern Kentucky in three sets at the 2017 Duquesne Invitational. The middle blocker duo of
Maria Alfano and
Emma Granger hit .462 and .313, respectively, and totaled 14 of the Colonials' 30 kills and six combined block assists.
Alyson Londot led RMU with 10.0 points on eight kills, two block assists, and a service ace, while setters Brianna Frakes (17a, 9d) and
Whitney Brown (10a, 9d) nearly recorded double-doubles.
Scouting the Norse
Guided by 11th-year head coach Liz Hart, Northern Kentucky is the reigning Horizon League Tournament champions and currently sit fourth in the standings at 7-3. The Norse, who come in at 8-3 overall with a three-set win against Cincinnati, were selected to finish second in the Preseason Coaches' Poll after receiving 111 points and three first-place votes.
Junior outside hitter Anna Brinkmann ranks second in the Horizon League in service aces (0.48), third in kills (3.52) and points (4.12), and is hitting at a .275 clip. NKU leads the conference in aces at 1.74 per set with senior libero Ashton Terrill (0.36, t-4th), sophomore defensive specialist Anna Burke (0.36, t-4th), and redshirt sophomore middle blocker Abby Kanakry (0.35, 7th) all ranking inside the top seven of that category. Senior middle blocker Peyton Bagwell slots fourth in blocks at 1.09 per frame, while junior setter Miranda Wucherer averages 5.96 assists per set in the Norse's 6-2 offense.
Last Time Out
RMU extended its win streak to three matches with a pair of victories over IUPUI last week. The Colonials came back from a 1-0 deficit last Monday to take the next three frames by scores of 25-20, 25-18, and 25-19. The next day, RMU celebrated Senior Night by sweeping the Jaguars (25-12, 25-20, 25-16).
Fourth-year outside hitter
Alyson Londot and senior middle blocker
Maria Alfano led the Colonials in the Monday triumph, recording 17.0 and 16.0 points, respectively. Londot tallied 15 kills on a .216 hitting percentage, adding six digs and four block assists. Alfano registered a season-high eight blocks (two solo) to go along with 11 kills, while converting at a .318 clip over 22 swings. Junior setter
Megan Cannon came off the bench to provide 31 assists, and classmate
Nikolette Zanolli tallied 15 digs and three service aces.
Alfano starred in RMU's Tuesday sweep of IUPUI, providing 13 kills on a .440 hitting percentage with a solo block. Senior outside hitter
Mirna Sarjanovic put together her best performance of the season, converting at a .344 rate with 12 kills, seven digs, and a pair of service aces. Fourth-year setter
Whitney Brown dished out 32 helpers and six digs, and Zanolli held the back line again with a match-high 20 digs.
Best of the Best
Senior middle blocker
Maria Alfano became the first RMU player to receive a Horizon League weekly honor, earning
Nike/HL Player of the Week last Thursday. The second weekly honor of Alfano's career – she previously earned
Molten/Northeast Conference (NEC) Defensive Player of the Week on Sept. 3, 2019 – comes on the heels of a pair of stellar performances against IUPUI, as she averaged 3.42 kills, 1.29 blocks, and 4.29 points per set and hit at a .383 clip over 47 swings.
Stay Classy
Fourth-year teammates
Whitney Brown and
Emma Granger were selected as two of 30 nominees for this year's Senior CLASS Award, which goes to the top NCAA Division I senior student-athlete in each sport that best exemplifies excellence in the four Cs of community, classroom, character, and competition. The duo are the only two Horizon League student-athletes among the candidate list, and RMU is one of four schools to produce multiple nominees alongside Kentucky (3), Minnesota (2), and Utah (2). Brown and Granger are the third and fourth Colonials to be nominated, joining Amanda Graham (2010) and Hannah Veith (2011).
Welcome Back Wonder Woman
Senior middle blocker
Emma Granger made her season debut on March 2 after missing RMU's first nine games due to injury, and provided four kills, a service ace, and a block assist. Granger, who was named NEC Player of the Year unanimously and became the first player in program history to collect All-Region and All-America accolades in 2019, owns the RMU career record in service aces (182), and ranks third in hitting percentage (.334), fourth in block assists (332), and seventh in total blocks (383).
What Can Brown Do For You
Senior setter
Whitney Brown continues to climb up the RMU career assist leaderboard, sitting sixth with a total of 2,274 to her name. She surpassed Michelle Bartlett (2,175; 1999-01) for sixth place and is one of eight players in program history to reach the 2,000-assist milestone. She is averaging 8.98 assists per set in 2021, which ranks fifth in the Horizon League, and has recorded five double-doubles.
My Maria
Senior middle blocker
Maria Alfano has seen her name pop up throughout the RMU career record books this season, and now sits sixth all-time in hitting percentage (.305) after surpassing the qualifying standard of 1,700 career attempts against Wright State on Feb. 23. Alfano also slots sixth in block assists (265) and is five shy of tying Janette Schneider for fifth, and ranks eighth in total blocks (302) after eclipsing the 300-block milestone on March 15 against IUPUI. This season she ranks sixth in the Horizon League in hitting percentage (.292) and seventh in blocks per set (0.98).
Holy Zanolli
Junior libero
Nikolette Zanolli has put together another solid season defensively, ranking seventh in the Horizon League in digs per set (4.00). Zanolli has recorded double-digit digs in 10 of 13 contests this spring and is coming off a season-high 20 in a three-set win over IUPUI last Tuesday. The Massillon, Ohio native averaged 4.65 digs per frame as a sophomore – good for third in the NEC – and is 146 shy of reaching 1,000 for her career.
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