MOON TOWNSHIP, Pa. – RMU volleyball opened the Four Twelve Project Invitational with a dominant 3-0 match win over Canisius on Friday night.

With the win, the Colonials improve to 4-6 while Canisius lost their sixth match of the season.

KEY SET MOMENTS

• RMU came out swinging to start the match as they jumped out to a 6-0 lead thanks to four kills and a service ace. The Colonials controlled the offensive tempo in the first stanza as they had a .389 hit percentage compared to Canisius who just had a .136 hit percentage. RMU established a 20-15 set lead and then went on a 6-1 run to close out the stanza.
• The Colonials started the second set the same as the first with a 6-0 run to put the Golden Griffins on their heels. RMU owned the service line as they had five aces in the second set with Ashleigh Wallin contributing to three of those. Once again, the Colonials finished the set strong with a 6-2 run with five of those points coming on Canisius errors.
• RMU was battle tested throughout the third stanza as they saw themselves down 17-14 until the Colonials erupted and went on an 8-0 run to make the score, 22-17. Canisius tried to battle back but RMU's 17 kills were too much in comparison to Canisius having 12 kills in the third set.

INSIDE THE NUMBERS
Graduate student Jaaliyah Evans led the Colonials on offense with 12 kills while also having six digs. Natalie Stepanovich had a loaded box score as she had 10 kills, 12 digs, and two aces. Ashleigh Wallin was a constant contributor as she had a team-high 21 assists and six aces with five digs.

QUOTABLES
Colonials head coach Danny Doherty spoke after the match about how proud he was of his team's efforts tonight. Doherty stated "I'm unbelievably proud we were a very, very gutty team, and when they set their mind to something, they're going accomplish it. I love, I love what they were able to do today." Doherty added, "They came out firing. They played point for point, but they really strum some really good stuff together at the service line. And that service pass was really on today, so, I love the energy that they provided."

UP NEXT
RMU will make the short trip to Duquesne tomorrow afternoon when they battle Central Michigan as part of the Four Twelve Project Volleyball Invitational. The match will only be available on live stats at 12:00 p.m.

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