MOON TOWNSHIP- The Robert Morris Volleyball team played their second game of the day against the Duquesne Dukes at the Chick-fil-A Robinson Labor Day Classic. Earlier in the day, at 11 A.M., they defeated the Canisius Golden Griffins three sets to one. The Colonials moved to 2-2 on the season.
To start set one, The Colonials and Dukes traded points as both teams went back and forth. Robert Morris was the first team to score ten points in set one. The Colonials had one service ace and four kills through the opening minutes. The Dukes swung the momentum as they came out of the time out, and they scored five straight points from the timeout to tie the game at ten.
Coach Danny Doherty called a timeout after the Dukes got up by two points in the first set. Momentum shifted as the Duke’s attack got strong. After the timeout, the Colonials took the lead with the help of Azra Eric’s serve. The Dukes took the lead and ended up extending their lead to five, but Coach Doherty challenged the touch call, which resulted in a point for the Colonials. The Dukes took the first set 25-19 in a hard-fought first set.
Coach Doherty’s challenges proved effective as they won the Colonials points.
“There’s a lot of stuff that goes into those,” Coach Doherty said postgame. “Luck has a role in it, but we get to see things at a different angle than the officials.”
Emma Brown led the Colonials in kills with four, and they also had two aces, with Allena Carmody and Azra Eric having one each at the end of the first set.
The second set opened up with an incredible rally between both teams. Coach Doherty challenged a call, making him two for two for challenges on the evening. After the challenge, the Colonials changed the momentum and scored five straight points. The teams continued to go back and forth, with the Colonials hanging on in the second set despite being down by three. Natalie Stepanovich had two crucial kills to put the Colonials within one.
Robert Morris came back within two points as the score turned 24-22, with the Dukes up by two. The Colonials were down but not out yet, showing they still have a spark. Abby Ryan had three straight kills. Coach Doherty, who is two for two on challenges for the day, is challenging the set point to see if the ball went out. With a great challenge, Coach Doherty keeps RMU alive as they score five straight points as RMU swung the momentum in their favor.
Abby Ryan scored seven consecutive kills to bring the Colonials a set win. She has set a new single-game career high for kills with 24 on the night.
“We’ve known that Abby could do that for a long time,” Coach Doherty said. “She has that power in her, and she unlocked it today. She found the key to Pandora’s box and took off.. It was awesome”.
“I just felt like I was on a high,” Ryan said. “I knew my teammates were there to support me, and I just knew that if I was going to get the ball, I was going to score.”
As set three kicked off, Robert Morris had the momentum in their favor coming off of that remarkable comeback in the second set. The Colonials and Dukes had been trading blows to start off the set. As they head to timeout in the third set, the Dukes lead the Colonials by four points. Robert Morris took control of the momentum after the timeout as they continued to fight their way on. In the second straight set, the Colonials are down but don’t count them out because, in the last set, the Colonials stormed back and won set two. The Dukes take set three 25-19, and they can win the match in the next set. The Colonials had to take set four to keep their hopes alive.
Set four opened up with the Dukes taking the first two points; after the lost challenge, they come back and win a point. Abby Ryan, the senior from Orchard Park, New York, got her 20th kill to tie the game at three. The Colonials are down five after the ace from the Duquesne Dukes. There was a timeout, and the Colonials needed to get points here to keep their winning hopes alive. The Colonials stormed back with three straight points to bring themselves within three points of the leading dukes. The Colonials hung on as the score is 19-14, and they called a timeout as they looked to stay alive.
The Colonials fought hard and looked strong, but lost the match three sets to one to the Duquesne Dukes.
“Things are going to work themselves out,” Coach Doherty stated after the loss.
The Colonials look to get back to .500 next week as they travel to George Mason to partake in Mason Invite where George Mason, Redford, and Brown await.
