In a hotly contested match-up, the Robert Morris Colonials fell to the Sacred Heart Pioneers 3 sets to 1.

The story wasn’t the great play of the Sacred Heart which gave them the win, it was the fact that the Pioneers were still able to pull out a dominating victory in which they seemed to have complete control over the Colonials despite 35 errors from the SHU squad.

The Colonials were able to hang close to Sacred Heart in every set of the match but only managed to win one as RMU was unable to take advantage of the mistakes that allowed them to stay in these tight sets.

Momentum was not a friend of the Colonials in this match-up as it seemed as though Robert Morris was constantly playing catch up the entire match after falling behind early in sets.

After splitting the first two sets, Robert Morris lost the last two sets both by the score of 25-23. In the match’s entirety, no set was decided by more than 3 points.

“We are two evenly matched teams,” said coach Dale Starr. “And when you make the amount of mistakes we did you aren’t going to beat a good team like Sacred Heart.”

The Colonials were out-killed by a total of 14, a margin which allowed the Pioneers to overlook the massive amount of errors they made during the match.

On a team with seasoned veterans such as Kristen Thompson and Arden Fisher, along with a young but talented player in Taylor Lord, RMU was unable to find a player to step up and make the plays necessary to get the win in a very tightly contested Northeast Conference.

Something which coach Starr emphasized as a place for improvement was in the passing game, being able to set up players like Fisher and Thompson to make the kills they are capable of making.

“Our passing woes showed up late in the third and fourth sets when we really couldn’t get good swings on the ball and doing what was successful which is attacking behind the setter,” said Coach Starr.

Mistakes are clearly something that have been following this team throughout the season. The Colonials are now 3-1 in conference play this season with a long conference schedule to go.

Robert Morris returns to the friendly confines of the Charles L. Sewall Center on Oct. 11 to square off with NEC opponent Farleigh Dickinson. The match-up is set for a 3 p.m. start.