Moon Township, Pa. – The Robert Morris University volleyball team closed the 2021 spring season with a victory over the reigning Horizon League Tournament champion Northern Kentucky, as the Colonials and Norse split a doubleheader by scores of 3-0 and 3-1 from the UPMC Events Center. RMU completes the season at 4-12 (4-12 HL), while NKU move onto to defend their tourney crown at 9-4 overall and 8-4 in the league.
MATCH #1 – Robert Morris 3, Northern Kentucky 0 (25-16, 25-16, 25-23)
MOMENTS THAT MATTERED
Trailing 2-0 for the match, NKU came out firing and opened up a 13-6 lead in the third set. A service error, Alyssa Hudak kill, and Abby Ryan ace forced a timeout from the Norse at 13-9, and they responded with five of the next points to go ahead 18-12. Maria Alfano answered with a personal 4-0 run, collecting a pair of block assists and two kills to bring RMU within two at 18-16. That gap would briefly grow to 21-17, but the Colonials netted three straight points out of a timeout to cut the deficit to one. After an Abby Kanakry kill made it 22-20 Norse, three consecutive Hudak kills gave RMU its first lead of the set at 23-22. Alyson Londot and Skylar Clements forced set point with a combo block on Miranda Wucherer and after a hiccup with a service error, Hudak found the floor once more to complete the three-set sweep at 25-23.
ALL GAS, NO BRAKES
RMU got on the front foot from the jump, forcing NKU into both of its timeouts in the first set after grabbing a 9-2 lead. Emma Granger fired two of her three service aces during the stretch, while the visiting Norse committed four errors. That advantage never dipped below five points over the course of the frame, as the Colonials held NKU to a .025 hitting percentage to net a 25-16 win. Alyson Londot netted four of her seven kills in the stanza and Abby Ryan collected three of her half-dozen.
WHO THAT HUDAK
Junior outside hitter Alyssa Hudak matched her season standard in hitting percentage this afternoon, converting at a .478 rate with 11 kills. Hudak, who added a service ace and two block assists, reached double-figures in kills on six occasions over the abbreviated season after doing so 13 times in 2019.
HIGH HONORS
Senior middle blocker Maria Alfano led all players in the first match with 12 kills and 13.5 points on a .550 hitting percentage. Classmate Whitney Brown quarterbacked the offense with 32 assists, while freshman outside hitter Abby Ryan netted a career-high 18 digs. Alfano and fourth-year middle blocker Emma Granger shared the block lead with three apiece, while Granger added a match-high three service aces.
MATCH #2 – Northern Kentucky 3, Robert Morris 1 (22-25, 21-25, 25-20, 20-25)
MOMENTS THAT MATTERED
Facing the end of its season, RMU fell behind 19-9 in the fourth set and it seemed as if the Norse would cruise to victory. However, kills from Maria Alfano and Mirna Sarjanovic as well as an Erika Wilt ace forced NKU into a timeout at 19-12, and the visitors burned their other at 20-15 after another Colonial three-point rally. Emma Granger and Emily Devlin sparked a third 3-0 run to make it 21-18 and Granger answered two Norse points with kills, but NKU ultimately held on to win the match with a 25-20 fourth-frame triumph.
STAYING ALIVE
RMU extended its season one more set by taking the third frame, 25-20. Neither team could gain much of an advantage until NKU took a slight 18-16 lead with a Payton Bagwell kill. That would be short-lived however, as Skylar Clements netted a kill and block, and Whitney Brown fired an ace to put the Colonials ahead 19-18. The lead grew to 22-19 with a NKU error and two Annie Monaco points, but the visitors answered with an Allie Siefke swing. Monaco took over from there, recording two kills and chipping in with Maria Alfano on a block to force a fourth stanza.
MY MARIA
Senior middle blocker Maria Alfano was stellar in both matches, as she hit .510 over 51 swings and totaled 31.5 points on 28 kills and seven block assists. Alfano started the afternoon by converting at a .550 rate offensively, tallying a match-high 12 kills and 13.5 points. In the night cap, the Cranberry Township, Pa. native established new 2021 standards in kills (16) and points (18.0), also netting four block assists and a .484 hitting percentage. The reigning Nike/Horizon League Player of the Week ended the season playing some of her best volleyball, recording double-digit points in six straight matches while hitting .417 and averaging 3.28 kills, 1.23 blocks, and 3.91 points per set over that stretch.
RECORD BOOK RANKINGS
Senior duo Maria Alfano and Whitney Brown end their careers entrenched in the RMU record books. Alfano, an All-Northeast Conference (NEC) First Team pick in 2019, moved into fifth all-time at RMU in block assists (272) – surpassing Janette Schneider (270; 2003-06) – and sixth in hitting percentage (.312) and eighth in total blocks (309). Brown, an All-NEC Second Team selection in 2019, finishes sixth in career assists with 2,346 to her name.
WHAT'S NEXT
RMU is slated to return 10 players from this year's team, including seniors Emma Granger and Alyson Londot who plan to return in the fall for a fifth season of competition. The Colonials also will welcome five freshmen into the mix in Ally Christman, Jaidan Hockman, Tatum Otolski, Abby Powers, and Ashleigh Wallin, who all signed with the program in November of 2020.
QUOTABLE
"I'm very proud of what this senior class accomplished," said RMU head coach Dale Starr. "This program wasn't on the best footing when they came in, and the first two years they struggled. Obviously last year they stepped up and turned this thing around, and really provided the leadership that we've been lacking. This group was special and set this program up for a lot of good things moving forward. That was my message in the locker room, thanking them and appreciating everything that they have given to this program. They won a ton of matches and really changed the trajectory of this program."
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