MOON TOWNSHIP– The Robert Morris volleyball team had its final home game of the season Friday night, meaning it was Senior Night for four Colonials.
Rosina Esposito, Emma Brown, Allena Carmody and Abby Ryan were all honored postgame.
“It’s probably my favorite and least favorite day of the season because we have to move on from great student-athletes who have put a lot of blood, sweat, and tears into this gym,” head coach Danny Doherty said. “It’s a great day because you get to remember that you get to honor them.”
Graduate student Allena Carmody made her mark on her senior day individually, racking up her 1500th career dig in the first set.
“It means so much,” Carmody said. “[This program] taught me a lot about myself and my teammates and made me become the person I am today. I’m really thankful for RMU. ”
As for the game, the Colonials opened up the game on a tear, leading as much as 9-1 at the beginning of the set, and never gave up the lead.
“They’ve played with confidence all season,” Coach Doherty said. “There’s only been a couple of matches where they’ve been questioning where their drive is. This team comes out, plays hard for each other, wants to win, wants to do all those things. Sometimes, it’s just not enough and today we proved that resilience is key. ”
RMU rebounded after losing the second set thanks to a thrilling 10-3 run towards the tail end of the frame.
“They’re Goonies, they just get after it and never say die. We out-dug them by 11 digs and there’s gigantic focus from them of defensive play. We got them in the big category, which is. It’s something I’m very proud of.”
The fourth set began almost identical to the first. The Colonials came out firing with a 10-1 lead. However, the Mastodons stormed back to cut the deficit to as many as one midway through.
However, the Colonials pulled through and earned their first win since Oct. 20.
Rosina Esposito shined throughout having 15 kills and 19 digs. Sophomore Ashleigh Wallin led the team in assists once again with 27.
RMU will travel to Youngstown for its final regular season matchup on Nov. 10 at 6 p.m.
