Moon Township, Pa. – The RMU volleyball team opened play in the Chick-fil-A Robinson Labor Day Classic Saturday, splitting a pair of matches at the UPMC Events Center. The Colonials captured a 3-1 victory over Canisius in its opener before falling to Duquesne, 3-1.

With the split, RMU sits at 3-3 on the season, while Canisius falls to 2-4 and Duquesne improves to 5-1 overall.

MATCH 1 vs Canisius • W, 3-1

MOMENTS THAT MATTERED
The Colonials opened the first set on fire, jumping out to a 5-1 lead, thanks in part to three kills and a service ace. The two squads would trade the next eight points before RMU used a 6-2 run to hold a 15-8 advantage. A kill by senior Abby Ryan sparked the run, followed by a block by graduate student Rosina Esposito and senior Emma Brown. Brown then netted a kill before Esposito capped the surge with a successful swing of her own. Later in the set, the Colonials held a 19-12 lead before junior Hillarie Adams stretched the RMU advantage with three consecutive points of her own, 22-12. Freshman Natalie Stepanovich found the floor twice before Adams captured set one for the Colonials with a kill, 25-14.

STAY HOT NOW
Canisius held a 6-5 lead to begin the second set before the Colonials rattled off seven straight points to hold a 12-6 advantage. Adams started the surge with a kill, followed by a service ace and a successful swing by freshman Azra Eric and sophomore Kaitlyn Brown. Stepanovich netted back-to-back kills before Azra registered another ace and Adams found the floor successfully. Later in the set, the Colonials used a 6-1 run to hold its largest lead of the set, 21-11, thanks to three kills from Esposito. The Golden Griffins trimmed the deficit to 23-15 before a successful swing by Ryan and an attacking error by Canisius secured the set two for RMU. The Colonials used 17 kills and a .361 attacking percentage while only acquiring four errors.

MATCH SECURED
After Canisius used a .414 hitting percentage and 14 kills to take set three, the Colonials regrouped and used 16 successful swings and a .341 attacking percentage to secure the match. RMU jumped out to a 3-1 advantage, thanks to a service ace by graduate student Allena Carmody and a point by Ryan. The two squads continued the back-and-forth affair before consecutive kills from Ryan and a successful swing by Eric gave the Colonials a 14-8 cushion. Canisius would trim the RMU lead but the Colonials continued to put the pressure on as they used a 5-1 run to expand its lead, 20-11. Stepanovich found the floor successfully before junior Ashleigh Wallin secured a service ace during the surge. After a point by Ryan, Eric secured the match with a kill of her own.

QUOTABLE
"Kudos to Canisius for switching up that game plan during that third set and really enforcing kind of like their chess move," said head coach Danny Doherty. "We just had to remind ourselves who we are and I think we stressed a little bit, tried to be someone that we weren't and kind of over focused. We bounced back though, it was a testament to how strong our group is. During timeouts there were great player-led conversations and a lot of changes that were pretty exquisite."

THREE HEADED MONSTERS
The Colonials featured three players with double digit kills, led by Rosina Esposito. In her first contest at home, Esposito finished with a staggering .455 attacking percentage, along with 18 kills and just three errors. She hit a stunning .714 in set two to go along with five kills. Abby Ryan fell just short of another double-double, securing 15 kills and nine digs during the win. Natalie Stepanovich registered her second kill/dig double-double of the season, totaling a team-high 16 digs and 11 kills. She also collected three service aces and three assists on Saturday.

QUOTABLE
"They were unbelievably good this morning," continued Doherty. "There was a lot of support in the stands for those two and they really showed out. It was very impressive to see the way those two took the court but how we always say the success of those two was on the backs of everybody that's on our squad."

INSIDE THE BOXSCORE
The duo of Ashleigh Walling and Kaitlyn Brown led the Colonials in assists, as Wallin posted 29 assists and seven digs while Brown posted her second double-double of the season, with 19 assists and 14 digs. Allena Carmody posted 13 digs, five assists, and two service aces while Hillarie Adams registered nine kills, two digs, and a block. Emma Brown recorded six kills and three blocks during the win on Saturday.

MATCH 2 vs Duquesne • L, 3-1

MOMENTS THAT MATTERED
After falling to the Dukes in the opening set 25-19, the Colonials rallied from behind to capture a 26-24 win in set two. It was a back-and-forth affair as the two squads traded the opening 10 points before RMU netted four consecutive points. Stepanovich started the surge with a kill before Wallin collected a service ace and Emma Brown capped the run with consecutive kills, 9-5.

ABBY RYAN … HERE COMES THE BOOM!
Duquesne would respond with a 4-0 run of their own to knot the score at 9-9. Later in the set, the Dukes would score seven of the next 10 points to hold a 24-19 advantage. Down to their final point, the Colonials looked to senior outside hitter Abby Ryan, who went on a 7-0 run to secure a 26-24 set two victory. Ryan totaled 10 successful swings in the set, seven of them coming on that run alone.

QUOTABLE
"We just got to get after it and take care of ourselves and things are going to work themselves out," Doherty said. "Duquesne is playing with a lot of fire right now, coming off two big wins over Canisius and they're being aggressive. We just had to get good quality touches defensively and be able to run our offense."

INSIDE THE NUMBERS
It was a career night for Abby Ryan as she posted a personal best 24 kills along with 10 digs for her second double-double of the season. She hit at a .309 clip which is a season best. Emma Brown tied her career-high with 13 kills while recording two digs and a block while Natalie Stepanovich totaled 10 digs and nine kills against the Dukes. Ashleigh Wallin tallied 26 assists, eight digs, and an ace while Kaitlyn Brown finished with 19 assists and eight digs for the Colonials.

ALL-TOURNEY TEAM
Morgan Gish of Duquesne was named MVP of the Labor Day Classic while Chloe Wilmot and Avery Hobson were named to the All-Tournament Team for the Dukes. For the Colonials, Abby Ryan and Emma Brown received the honor while Ella Loussia of Canisius was selected for the Golden Griffins

QUOTABLE
"We got to learn from everything win, lose, or draw," Doherty continued. "We have youth, we have veteran presence and we just have to continue to find out what works best for us. I think we came out with a little better defensive effort and we're going to put some people on notice this year."

UP NEXT
RMU continues its non-conference schedule as it travels to Fairfax Va., for the Mason Invite. The Colonials open the tournament on Friday, Sept. 8, with a match against the host George Mason before taking on Radford and Brown on Saturday, Sept. 9.

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