Moon Township, Pa. – The RMU volleyball team opened play in the
Chick-fil-A Robinson Labor Day Classic Friday, splitting a pair of matches at the UPMC Events Center. The Colonials fell in the opener to William & Mary, 3-1, before rebounding to earn a 3-1 win over Canisius. RMU owns an overall record of 2-3 (.400) during the 2022 campaign.
MATCH 1 vs. William & Mary • L, 3-1
(22-25, 25-21, 11-25, 22-25)
MOMENTS THAT MATTERED
Tied, 1-1, the Tribe took control in the third set. William & Mary jumped out to a 4-0 lead thanks to pair of service aces from Sarah Callander and eventually stretched its advantage to 11-2, forcing the Colonials to call timeout. RMU steadied, but the deficit was too big to overcome as the Tribe eventually posted a 25-11 triumph in the set. Maddie Meyers was the main offensive cog for William & Mary, recording six kills without an error in 10 attempts as the Tribe hit .389 during the set.
THE DECIDING SET
The Tribe again jumped out to a big lead in the fourth set, opening up a 7-3 lead after junior
Abby Ryan was whistled for a bad set. William & Mary held the lead until the Colonials used an 7-1 run to tie it, 14-14. RMU received kills from
Emma Brown, sophomore
Abby Powers and Ryan during the surge, while junior
Allena Carmody tied it with a service ace. Setting up a back-and-forth affair, the Colonials grabbed an 18-15 cushion thanks to a kill from freshman
Hillarie Adams. Brown would keep RMU in front, 21-19, with a kill, but William & Mary closed out the set and match with a 6-1 run that was capped by a kill from Kaitlyn Ferguson.
QUOTABLE
"You can always take positives away from any match," RMU head coach
Danny Doherty said. "There were some opportunities that we could've taken advantage of but just couldn't get over the hump in the fourth set. We're learning. We're growing. We just need to expand on the positive aspects of a match despite the fact you're not getting the result you want. If you stick with that then things will eventually go your way."
INSIDE THE BOX SCORE
Finishing just a dig shy of her first double-double of the 2022 season in the final match of the JMU Invitational, junior
Annie Monaco broke through against the Tribe, posting 10 kills and 11 digs. Powers led the Colonials with 11 kills and a .286 hitting percentage, while Carmody recorded 16 digs.
MATCH 2 vs. Canisius • W, 3-1
(23-25, 25-12, 25-23, 25-16)
MOMENTS THAT MATTERED
Ella Loussia notched one of her match-high four service aces that gave the Golden Griffins a 22-18 lead in the third set, forcing the Colonials to call timeout. Out of the break, Monaco came back with a kill, which sparked a 6-1 run that gave RMU a 25-23 win and a 2-1 advantage in the match. Powers provided a kill to pull the Colonials to within 22-20, and after Canisius grabbed a 23-20 lead thanks to a Taylor Baldwin kill, sophomore
Ally Christman answered with a kill of her own. Consecutive attack errors by the Golden Griffins tied it, 23-23, and the Colonials sealed the win with another Christman kill and a service ace from Carmody.
QUOTABLE
"Stay with what works," Doherty said. "I told them in the timeout that I wanted them to dig deep and tie it up at 23. That's the first objective. We tied it up at 23 and then we took it. It's about setting small goals and making sure those small goals are achievable."
SPARKLE AND SHINE
Christman gave the Colonials a huge boost off the bench against Canisius as part of a balanced offensive attack, establishing career highs in both kills (12) and digs (17) in recording her first career double-double in an RMU uniform. Posting her second double-double in as many matches on the day was Monaco, who led the Colonials with 14 kills while tying a career high with 16 digs. Powers was also efficient, recording 13 kills, a .346 attack percentage and four blocks.
QUOTABLE
"We have a great bench, and Ally came in and was ready to punch and ready to fight," Doherty said. "They had a bigger block that I think she was able to utilize to her advantage as a tool to start, and that really opened up opportunities for everybody in the rotation. It was great to see her come in and give us a spark. We're going to need that moving forward."
THE 700 CLUB
Carmody tied Christman for match-high honors in digs with 17 and in the process eclipsed 700 for her career. Carmody now owns 709 career digs in 275 sets, an average of 2.58 digs per set. In the early portions of the 2022 season she has racked up 61 digs in 19 sets, an average of 3.21 that ranks 10th in the Horizon League.
UP NEXT
RMU concludes the
Chick-fil-A Robinson Labor Day Classic by traveling to face crosstown rival Duquesne in a 3:00 p.m. match at the UPMC Cooper Fieldhouse.
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