Moon Township, Pa. – The Colonials wrapped up its two-game road stand, dropping a 3-0 decision to Cleveland State on Saturday evening at the UPMC Events Center in Horizon League play.

With the loss, the RMU volleyball team falls to 6-17 overall this season with a 3-9 mark in conference action. Meanwhile, the Vikings improve to 13-9 this season behind a 7-4 record in league play.

MOMENTS THAT MATTERED
In the opening frame, the Colonials offense sputtered as Cleveland State used an 11-4 run to claim a 25-12 set one victory. Between eight ties and four lead changes, the two squads continued to trade points throughout the set. The Vikings jumped out to an early 7-3 advantage before RMU netted seven of the next 11 scores to trim the deficit, 11-10. Junior Abby Powers started the fun with a kill followed by a service ace by freshman Natalie Stepanovich. Powers would collect another successful swing during the run while freshman Azra Eric collected an ace. Senior Emma Brown found the floor successful as two Viking errors helped the Colonials trim the lead.

After consecutive points from Cleveland State, RMU mounted a 6-1 stint to grab a 16-14 advantage. Brown paced the surge with a pair of kills while Stepanovich and graduate student Rosina Esposito collected points. The Vikings responded by scoring six of the next nine points to hold a 20-19 lead and forcing a Colonial timeout. Out of the break. Sophomore Kaitlyn Brown registered a kill before Cleveland State rattled off a 5-2 surge to claim set two, 25-22.

THIRD STANZA
In set three, the Vikings scored the first five points to begin the set and forced an RMU timeout. The Colonials rallied and responded with an 8-5 surge to close the gap, 10-8. Five different players collected a kill during the stint as Brown, Adams, Eric, Stepnaovich, and Powers all found the floor successfully. The two teams treaded the next six points, forcing the Vikings to call a timeout. Adams posted two kills and Esposiot collected a point during that run. Later in the set, Cleveland State held a 19-17 advantage before mounting six of the final 10 points to complete the match sweep, 25-21.

INSIDE THE BOXSCORE
Stepanovich fell shy of another double-double, carding 13 digs and eight kills while totaling two blocks and an ace. Adams finished the evening with seven kills and two digs while Brown collected five successful swings, three blocks, and two digs. Powers tallied five kills and Esposito finished with four and five digs. Ashleigh Wallin recorded her fourth double-double of the year, posting 16 assists and 12 digs while Kaitlyn Brown registered 12 assists and two digs. Graduate student Allena Carmody collected a team-high 15 digs on Saturday.

UP NEXT
RMU begins a three-game road trip when it travels to Wright State on Tuesday, Oct. 24 for a Horizon League match, beginning at 6:00 p.m.

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