Moon Township, Pa. – In an all-around team performance, the RMU volleyball team secured a 3-1 victory over Oakland on Friday night at the UPMC Events Center in Horizon League action.

With the win, the Colonials improve to 6-16 overall behind a 3-8 mark in conference play. Meanwhile, the Golden Grizzlies slip to 12-10 this season with a 6-4 record in league action.

MOMENTS THAT MATTERED
It was a hot start for RMU in the opening frame as it used 15 kills and .306 attacking percentage to claim set one, 25-17. The Colonials opened the match on an 11-4 spurt, where five different Colonials registered a kill. Freshman Natalie Stepanovich paced the way with three successful swings while graduate student Rosina Esposito collected a pair of kills. Senior Emma Brown, sophomore Hillarie Adams, and freshman Azra Eric all recorded a point during the run. Out of a timeout, Oakland responded by scoring six of the next nine points to trim the deficit, 14-10. RMU countered with a 4-1 stint before the Golden Grizzlies rattled off four consecutive scores to cut the lead, 18-16. After an RMU timeout, the Colonials scored seven of the final eight points to secure the opening stanza. Stepanovich rattled off three kills during the run, two of them coming back-to-back in the final three points.

REGROUP & STAY HOT
It was an offensive battle in set two, where each squad posted 18 kills while the Colonials totaled a .426 hitting percentage and the Golden Grizzlies netted .381. Oakland would eventually even the match with a 25-23 victory. In the third stanza, the Colonials responded by taking advantage of a quiet attack by Oakland and jumping out to an early 9-4 advantage. Brown, Stepanovich, and Esposito all registered kills during the run. RMU remained consistent, scoring four of the next six points to gain a 13-6 lead. Adams posted a pair of kills while Stepanovich collected another successful swing. Later in the frame, the Golden Grizzlies put together a 7-2 stint to knot the score at 20-all. The Colonials responded like they have all night, scoring five of the final six scores to take a 2-1 match advantage. Brown started the run by finding the floor successfully before tallying another successful swing, followed by a point from Esposito.

SEVEN STRAIGHT … STEAL SET
In the fourth stanza, Oakland looked to respond, jumping out to an early 9-5 advantage. RMU countered by scoring eight of the next 11 scores to regain the lead and force a Golden Grizzly timeout. Eric led off the spurt with a kill, followed by an attacking error by Oakland and a kill by Brown. After three-straight points from the Golden Grizzlies, Brown and freshman Katie Cook registered successful points before junior Ashleigh Wallin capped the streak with consecutive service aces. Out of the timeout, the two squads traded points before the Colonials rattled off seven straight points to claim the match, 25-16. Stepanovich collected a kill and an ace before Oakland used its second timeout of the set. Three straight attacking errors gave RMU a 23-16 lead before Eric tallied a successful swing and Stepanovich capped the match with another service ace.

QUOTABLE
"This team's effort is something I never have to second guess," head coach Danny Doherty said. "These 16 bring it and get after it on a daily basis and the work they've put in is starting to show and be consistent."

TRIPLE THREAT
 A trio of Colonials lit up the stat sheet against the Golden Grizzlies, posting double-digit kills. Stepanovich paved the way with her 11^th kill/dig double-double of the season, carding 23 successful swings and 14 digs. She tied for the team-lead with five blocks while collecting a pair of service aces. Stepanovich totaled five or more kills in the first three sets alone while carding a season-high .362 hitting percentage. Brown led the squad and recorded a season-high .588 attacking percentage while collecting 11 kills on 17 attempts. She registered two or more successful swings in the first three frames while exploding for four scores in the third set. Brown also tallied three blocks and a dig during the win. Adams is the final Colonial in double-figures, posting 11 kills, two blocks, and a pair of digs against the Golden Grizzlies. She registered four successful swings in set two before sparking the Colonials run in set three with a trio of kills. This trio alone combined for 44 of the RMUs 61 kills on Friday night.

QUOTABLE
"It's going to be a different matchup against Cleveland State as they run a dynamically different offense," Doherty continued. "I think there's a couple key points that we're going to try and focus on and if we can execute them the way we know how, it should be an exciting match."

INSIDE THE NUMBERS
Eric finished the evening with eight kills and tied for the team-lead with five blocks, with three of them coming in the final set alone. Esposito recorded a season-high 13 digs while collecting eight kills in the win. Wallin controlled the offense with 28 assists, six digs, and a pair of aces while Cook posted a season-best 22 assists and three total blocks. Allena Carmody controlled the defensive, posting her second 30 dig performance of the season while collecting an assist.

UP NEXT
RMU returns to the court tomorrow, Saturday, Oct. 21, when it hosts Cleveland State for a conference match at the UPMC Events Center, beginning at 4:00 p.m.

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