Moon Township, Pa. – The Colonials opened its final two-game homestand on Thursday night, falling to IUPUI 3-1 at the UPMC Events Center in Horizon League play.

With the slip, the Colonials fall to 6-21 this season with a 4-13 mark in conference action. Meanwhile, the Jaguars improve to 9-16 this season behind a 3-11 record in league play.

MOMENTS THAT MATTERED
Between 12 ties and five lead changes in the opening set, IUPUI mounted 19 kills and a .308 attacking percentage to secure a 29-27 win. The Jags jumped out to a 7-4 advantage before RMU posted a 9-6 stint to knot the score at 13-all. Sophomore Hillarie Adams and junior Abby Powers paced the run with two kills each while graduate student Rosina Esposito and junior Ally Christman found the floor successfully. The two squads traded the next 10 points before the Colonials posted a 6-4 spurt to grab a 24-22 advantage. Powers and Christman led the way as Powers posted a kill and Christman carded an ace. IUPUI countered by scoring four of the next five points to take a 26-25 lead. RMU would even the score before the Jags netted consecutive scores to take an early 1-0 lead.

BOUNCE BACK
In the second stanza, IUPUI used an impressive .481 hitting percentage to grab a 2-0 match advantage. The Colonials bounced back in frame three, after overcoming nine ties and seven lead changes to trim the deficit, 2-1. After trading the opening eight points, RMU mounted a 7-2 surge to jump out to a 11-6 advantage. Esposito found the floor successfully as the Colonials took advantage of four attacking errors by the Jags. IUPUI would counter with six straight scores to claim a 12-11 lead midway through the set. Later in the frame, the Colonials would tie the score at 16-16 before they tallied a 9-6 stint to claim set three, 25-23. Freshman Azra Eric led the run with a pair of kills while Esposito, Adams. And senior Emma Brown all collected successful swings. Christman and graduate student Allena Carmody each carded a service ace.

ECLIPSED 1000
Going into tonight's match, Rosina Esposito was four digs shy of surpassing 1000 for her career. She collected two quick digs in the opening set before passing the milestone in the third frame. The Coraopolis native now has 129 digs on the season while registering 1004 for her career. She recorded 875 digs in her four-year stint at Susquehanna. Esposito finished with 10 kills, eight digs, and a pair of blocks against the Jags.

QUOTABLE
"Rosina is such an awesome kid," head coach Danny Doherty said. "I knew she had a lot of firepower and she's been doing great offensively and defensively for us. She's finding her way on how to be consistent on both ends and she did a solid job defensively tonight."

INSIDE THE BOXSCORE
Emma Brown totaled 12 kills on an impressive .474 attacking percentage while collecting a team-high three blocks. Brown did most of her work in the second and third stanza, where she totaled five kills in set three and four successful swings in frame two. Hillarie Adams finished with 11 kills on a career-best .550 hitting percentage and three digs. Ally Christman ended the night with seven kills, four digs, and one ace while Azra Eric posted six successful swings on a .625 clip, one ace, and one block. Ashleigh Wallin dished out 25 assists and four digs while recording a pair of aces. Kaitlyn Brown posted 13 helpers and five digs while Allena Carmody secured 15 digs, three assists, and a team-high three aces.

UP NEXT
"RMU closes its home portion of the 2023 campaign when it hosts Purdue Fort Wayne on Friday, Nov. 3 for Senior Day. The opening serve is scheduled for 6:00 p.m. with the senior ceremony set at the conclusion of the match.

QUOTABLE
"It's my least favorite but also my favorite day to coach because we get to celebrate the careers of some pretty fantastic humans," Doherty continued. "All four of them are very influential in what we've done and what we've created and they're going to leave a lasting mark on this program. I'm really excited to see what the four of them do in their next steps."

Follow The Colonials: Facebook | Twitter | Instagram | YouTube | Gameday App