Newark, Del. – The RMU volleyball team concluded play in the Blue Hen Invitational Sunday in Newark, Del., splitting a pair of matches. The Colonials captured their first win of the season in their opener against Niagara, securing a 3-1 victory before falling to the host Delaware, 3-1 at the Bob Carpenter Center.
With the split, the Colonials post a 1-2 mark to begin the season while the Greyhounds fall to 0-3 and the Blue Hens improve to 3-0 overall.
MATCH 1 vs Niagara • W, 3-1
MOMENTS THAT MATTERED
Trailing, 1-0, after the Greyhounds won the opening set 25-21, the Colonials fell behind 5-3 before a 7-0 run lifted RMU to a 10-5 lead in set two. Taking advantage of two errors by Niagara, senior
Abby Ryan, junior
Hillarie Adams, and sophomore
Kaitlyn Brown all registered kills during the run. After a kill from the Greyhounds, RMU netted eight of the next 11 points to stretch its lead to 18-9. Adams started the run with back-to-back kills while totaling three during the surge while graduate student
Rosina Esposito, senior
Emma Brown, and freshman
Azra Eric each netted a kill. The two squads traded points before the Colonials took advantage of two errors to take set two, 25-14.
THREE'S COMPANY
The two squads traded the first 12 points of set three before kills by senior
Abby Ryan, freshman
Natalie Stepanovich, and
Kaitlyn Brown gave the Colonials a 9-7 advantage. Niagara responded with a 4-1 run to regain the lead before RMU rattled off eight consecutive points to take its largest lead of the set, 17-11. Stepanovich and sophomore
Ashleigh Wallin paced the run as Stepanovich recorded three kills and Wallin registered three service aces. The Colonials continued to force pressure as Esposito carded a kill and an attacking error by the Greyhounds secured the third set for RMU, 25-18.
SEALING THE DEAL
The trio and Ryan, Esposito, and Stepanovich combined for 13 kills en route to securing set four, 25-18, and the match victory. The two squads traded the opening eight points before RMU took an 8-5 lead thanks to a 4-1 run. The back-and-forth affair continued before the Colonials broke open the set with a 6-0 run to take a 22-14 advantage. Ryan and Adams registered kills while Eric and Stepanovich secured a block during the surge. Niagara responded with three straight points before RMU secured the match with a 4-1 surge, capped off with a kill by Stepanovich.
INSIDE THE BOXSCORE
A trio of Colonials registered double-doubles as
Abby Ryan netted 15 kills and 10 digs,
Natalie Stepanovich recorded 14 kills and 15 digs while
Kaitlyn Brown collected 23 assists and 10 digs.
Rosina Esposito tallied 13 kills while
Hillarie Adams totaled nine kills and three digs during the win.
Ashleigh Wallin secured 21 assists and six digs while graduate student
Allena Carmody recorded 14 digs and four assists.
MATCH 2 at Delaware • L, 3-1
MOMENTS THAT MATTERED
In the opening set, it was a back-and-forth affair as it was knotted 7-7 early in the opening frame. The Blue Hens used a 10-2 surge to gain its largest lead before securing a 25-18 win. In the second set, Delaware used a .435 hitting percentage while collecting 11 kills against one error to take an early 2-0 lead in the match.
SET THREE REDEMPTION
The Colonials bounced back in set three utilizing a .306 attacking percentage while tallying 13 kills with two errors. RMU jumped out to an early 5-2 lead thanks in part to kills from Stepanovich, Ryan, and Esposito. The Blue Hens responded with a 6-1 run to regain the lead before taking a 14-13 advantage later in the set. Delaware would score four consecutive points before the Colonials took advantage of three errors by the Blue Hens and a kill by Eric to trail 18-17. Stepanovich would collect a kill that would spark a 5-0 run, giving the Colonials 24-21 advantage before a service error sealed the deal for RMU.
INSIDE THE NUMBERS
Three Colonials finished with double-digit kills as
Abby Ryan paced the team with 11 while collecting seven digs.
Rosina Esposito tallied 10 kills with a .348 hitting percentage and
Natalie Stepanovich finished shy of another double-double, with 10 kills and nine digs.
Ashleigh Wallin netted 19 assists, four digs, and two service aces while
Kaitlyn Brown totaled 13 assists and five digs on Sunday.
Allena Carmody paced the squad with a team-high 17 digs and also collected two assists.
ALL-TOURNEY
In her first tournament in the blue and white,
Natalie Stepanovich was selected to the All-Tournament Team for her performance at the Blue Hen Invitational. Stepanovich finished with 39 total kills on 92 attempts, with a .217 attack percentage. She collected 33 digs, six service aces and 3.0 blocks in three contests. The freshman outside hitter posted a 17.5-point performance in her first career game, netting 15 kills and nine digs. She followed that up with her first career double-double, with 15 digs and 14 kills in a win over Niagara.
UP NEXT
RMU returns home to the UPMC Events Center for a pair of matches Saturday, Sept. 2, as part of the Chick-fil-A Robinson Labor Day Classic. The Colonials welcome Canisius for an 11:00 a.m. match before hosting Duquesne at 6:00 p.m.
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