Moon Township, Pa. – The RMU volleyball team opened Horizon League play Tuesday at the UPMC Events Center, dropping a 3-1 decision to Oakland. The Colonials slipped to 7-6 (.538) overall during the 2022 season, including 0-1 in #HLVB.
MOMENTS THAT MATTERED
RMU and Oakland split the first two sets, each by the score of 25-23. The Golden Grizzlies took the first set before the Colonials turned the tide in set two, grabbing a 19-14 lead before a 5-1 spurt helped close Oakland to within 20-19. The Colonials steadied, getting a service ace from sophomore
Page Gross before a trio of kills helped RMU close out it. Fifth-year
Alyssa Hudak gave RMU a 23-21 cushion, junior
Emma Brown pushed the Colonials to match point and junior
Annie Monaco won it with a kill off a feed from sophomore setter
Ashleigh Wallin.
THE THIRD
RMU grabbed an early 3-0 lead after junior
Abby Ryan and Brown opened the set with consecutive kills and Jessica Riedl of the Golden Grizzlies posted an attack error. Riedl atoned for her error with a kill on the next possession for Oakland (5-8 / 1-0 #HLVB), which ignited 16-5 run. The Golden Grizzlies were efficient in the third, as after Riedl's attack error Oakland didn't post one the rest of the set, knocking down 13 kills in 29 attempts and finishing with a hitting percentage of .400 en route to a 25-15 win and a 2-1 lead in the match.
FOUR ON THE FLOOR
RMU opened the fourth set with a kill from freshman
Hillarie Adams, one of her eight on the match, and got behind the serve of Monaco in building a 14-3 advantage. Each of Monaco's six aces came in the fourth, including three straight that pushed the lead for the Colonials to 10-3. Brown and Adams also provided kills, while Monaco capped the spurt with, that's right, a service ace. Oakland called timeout and steadied, using a 7-2 run to close to within 16-10. Hudak came up with a pair of kills and Monaco another to get the lead to 20-11 for the Colonials, but the Golden Grizzlies scored 14 of the final 17 points of the match to record another 25-23 victory, this one sealing the win.
QUOTABLE
"I think in the fourth set we got a little overconfident," RMU Head Coach
Danny Doherty said. "We were at 13-3 and 16-6, and I think we were expecting to go to a fifth set. That's something we can't do. There's always positives you can take away. We served extremely well, and there were times we looked like a well-oiled machine. Once we make some adjustments and let this one sting a little bit I think we'll be better from it."
INSIDE THE BOX SCORE
In addition to her six services aces, two shy of the RMU single-match record of eight set last year by former middle blocker
Emma Granger (2017-21), Monaco led the Colonials with 13 kills while finishing just a dig shy of a double-double. Hudak added 10 kills, while Adams notched eight kills and a .412 attack percentage. Junior libero
Allena Carmody paced the RMU defense, notching 14 digs while also recording three assists.
UP NEXT
A two-match swing through the Badger State awaits, as the Colonials visit Green Bay (9/23) and Milwaukee (9/24) before returning home for a three-match homestand at the UPMC Events Center that begins Tuesday, Sept. 27, with a 6:00 p.m. match against Cleveland State.
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