Moon Township, Pa. – The RMU volleyball team wrapped up its home portion of the 2023 campaign, defeating Purdue Fort Wayne, 3-1 at the UPMC Events Center on Friday night during Senior Day.

With the win, the Colonials snap its five-game skid and improve to 7-21 this season behind a 4-13 mark in Horizon League play. Meanwhile, the Mastodons fall to 9-17 overall with a 4-10 record in conference play.

MOMENTS THAT MATTERED
RMU came out firing on all cylinders in the opening frame, capturing a 25-18 victory after posting 15 kills and holding Purdue Fort Wayne to .116 attacking percentage. The Colonials opened the match on an 11-2 spurt, paced by sophomore Hillarie Adams, who found the floor successfully three times. Senior Emma Brown and junior Ally Christman carded a pair of kills while graduate student Rosina Esposito and junior Jaidan Hockman posted service aces. RMU would keep the pressure on as they registered 10 of the next 19 points to claim a 21-11 advantage. Esposito registered four successful wings while Brown found the floor successfully. The Mastodons didn't shy away as they mounted a 7-2 stint to trim the deficit, 23-25. After an RMU timeout, Esposito capped the set with consecutive kills to secure the frame.

STAY HOT NOW
Purdue Fort Wayne would even the match after capturing a 25-20 victory in the second stanza. The Mastodons netted an impressive .419 attacking percentage along with 15 successful swings. In frame three, RMU jumped out to an early 5-1 advantage, thanks in part to a pair of kills from Christman and Esposito. After a Mastodons timeout, Purdue Fort Wayne recorded 10 of the next 16 points to knot the score at 11-all. RMU responded in a huge way, mounting an 11-3 run to take its largest lead of the set, 22-14. Christman and Brown led the charge with a pair of kills each while Adams found the floor successfully. The Mastodons cut the RMU advantage before Adams secured the set, 25-20.

SENIOR DAY DUB … SECURED
The Colonials continued to be consistent as they opened the fourth stanza on a 10-1 spurt. Adams carded three successful swings while Esposito, Christman, and Brown all registered points. Purdue Fort Wayne would respond once again, scoring 10 of the next 12 points to cut the lead 12-11. The Colonials would halt the run, netting a 7-5 stint to gain a 19-16 advantage. Junior Tatum Otolski sparked the run with three successful swings while Christman and Esposito posted points. The two squads traded the final 12 scores as Hockman secured the match with a service ace.

MILESTONE SECURED
Graduate student Allena Carmody came into the match four digs shy of 1500 career digs. She concurred the milestone in the opening set, registering five in the set victory. Carmody mounted seven digs in both the second and fourth stanza while posting six in the third frame. She finished the evening with 25 digs, two assists, and one ace. Carmody paces the team with 445 digs this season while posting her sixth match with 20+ digs. The Pittsburgh native now has 1,521 digs in her career with one match remaining.

QUOTABLE
"It means a lot honestly," Carmody said. "I honestly wasn't expecting tonight but I think it just shows that we came a long way as a team and definitely worked together."

SENIOR SPOTLIGHT
Four seniors played their final match at the UPMC Events Center in Rosina Esposito, Emma Brown, Allena Carmody, and Abby Ryan. Esposito registered her third kill/dig double-double of the season, posting 19 digs and 15 kills. She recorded four aces, three blocks, and three assists to lead RMU. Brown ended the evening with 12 kills at a .308 clip while posting a season-best six blocks on the evening.

QUOTABLE
"It's an emotional but exciting day for all of them because we get to celebrate student-athletes who have put a lot of blood, sweat, and tears into this gym," head coach Danny Doherty said. "I can look at the four of them and know there were so many core memories that are going to pop in and out on those weird days and you're going to be able to smile about them and remember what they've done to lay the groundwork on what we're doing here."

INSIDE THE NUMBERS
Adams finished the evening with 13 kills on a .321 hitting percentage while totaling two blocks and two digs. Christman registered her first kill/dig double-double of the season, with 11 kills and 10 digs while Ashleigh Wallin controlled the offense with 27 assists and nine digs. Freshman Katie Cook tallied 22 helpers and one block while Hockman ended with a season-high 14 digs and three service aces.

UP NEXT
RMU concludes its season when it travels to Youngstown State on Friday, Nov. 10, with the opening serve schedule for 6:00 p.m.

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