MOON TOWNSHIP– Despite the cold weather outside, the Robert Morris Colonials volleyball team (24-3, 14-0 NEC) continued their hot streak when they housed the St. Francis Brooklyn Terriers (12-14 8-6 NEC). RMU looked to keep their 13 match conference win streak intact. The Colonials did that even after they had an intense match the night before, pushing and fighting until the fifth set. Robert Morris battled and defeated the Terriers in just three hard-hitting sets (25-13, 25-19, 25-16), getting back to their dominating ways.
Coach Dale Starr stated that the quick victory was “A bit of an emotional letdown.” Coach Starr felt after the grueling and rigorous treatment they went through last night, that this game wouldn’t be as intense. “Were pretty banged up, we lost our starting setter, Whitney Brown.” Even though having star players injured on the side, the Colonials still managed to take home the win in just three sets.
St. Francis came out pretty strong in the first set, having a good lead on RMU. Once the pace picked up and the girls got into the rhythm of the game, they started hitting St. Francis with the intensity they bought previously, getting one up and boxing out the Terriers 25-13.
In the second set, Robert Morris and St. Francis came to play. The Terriers dug down deep and battled with the Colonials through the entire set. Neither team really was getting the upper hand on each other, which made for some good and exciting action. Emma Granger had a number of crucial kills to put RMU ahead, but St. Francis rose up to the challenge and battled back. Even though the Terriers showed the talent and intensity needed to play evenly with RMU, they dropped the second set 25-19.
The third set was crucial for each side, Robert Morris looked for a quick victory following the previous night’s five-set thriller. SFB looked to extend the match to at least the fourth frame. The Colonials and Terriers had an all-out block battle where no one could score a point for the longest time. The two stars for Bobby Mo this evening were Granger and Lauren Kolenik for bouncing intensity and energy off each other and to their teammates. Their energy fueled the rest of their team, as Robert Morris came out on top winning the last set 25-16.
Lauren Kolenik was one of the many stars that stood out in tonight’s game against the Terriers. Having 12 kills in one night along with Emma Granger, the two dominated the net, communicating and coordinating with each other with nothing short of perfection.
“After a high-intensity five-set game, it was really nice to come out and do what he had to do in 3 sets,” stated Kolenik. “We went in and did what we had to do, putting the nail in the coffin coming out with the win.”
Coach Starr remains confident in his team’s ability, he stated: “Our mantra is we take each game one set at a time, the most important game is the next game because that’s the one that matters.”
Starr has a lot of confidence in his team, and his players seem to have confidence in themselves.
