Moon Township, Pa. – The RMU volleyball team opened a four-match homestand at the UPMC Events Center Friday, dropping a 3-0 decision to Cleveland State in its 2021 Horizon League opener. The Colonials dipped to 7-6 (.538) overall on the 2021 season.
MOMENTS THAT MATTERED
Tied, 7-7, in the first set, Cleveland State (3-9 / 1-0 #HLVB) used a 12-6 run to open up a 19-13 advantage. Six different Vikings produced a kill during the rally, including one from Chelsea Penfield, who contributed 12 kills, a .500 hitting percentage and six blocks in the win for CSU. Despite trailing by six points, the Colonials used a surge of their own to jump in front, 24-22. Senior
Emily Devlin started the charge with a kill, while graduate student
Emma Granger added three. Granger also produced back-to-back service aces to give RMU a two-point advantage, but Cleveland State bounced back by scoring the final four points of the first set to earn the victory.
SET TWO
The early back-and-forth affair continued in the second set, with sophomore
Emma Brown giving RMU an early 7-5 lead with a kill on a feed from senior
Megan Cannon. Consecutive kills from Granger kept the advantage at two points, 9-7, for the Colonials before Cleveland State hung an 11-4 surge to grab an 18-13 lead. Abby Miller capped the run with a pair of service aces as the Vikings finished with five in the match.
INSIDE THE BOXSCORE
On the strength of a .378 hitting percentage in the first set, Cleveland State finished the match at .284, producing 41 kills against just 12 errors in 102 total attempts. RMU is 0-5 on the 2021 season when an opponent hits .200 or better but 7-1 (.875) when a foe fails to hit that mark. Peyton Bloomer led all student-athletes in the match with 14 kills for the Vikings, who got 31 assists from setter Abby Miller.
THREE'S COMPANY
RMU has played four consecutive matches that have gone just three sets. In the first nine tilts of the 2021 season, the Colonials played the minimum sets just twice, earning 3-0 triumphs over Manhattan and @ Fairleigh Dickinson August 28. Overall on the 2021 season RMU owns a record of 3-3 (.500) in matches that go three sets.
LA GRANGE
Granger paced the RMU offense against the Vikings, finishing with 12 kills, a .556 hitting percentage, both of RMU's service aces and five blocks. She posted just two errors in 18 total attempts as the Colonials finished with a .160 attack percentage overall. Graduate student
Alyson Londot contributed seven kills and four digs for RMU.
UP NEXT
RMU continues its four-match homestand Saturday, Sept. 25, by hosting Oakland at the UPMC Events Center. First serve is slated for 4:00 p.m.
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