MOON TOWNSHIP – Robert Morris (4-6) was back at the UPMC Events Center this evening to take on the Canisius Golden Griffins (4-6) as part of the Four Twelve Project Volleyball Invitational.
Robert Morris would get back to winning ways with a sweep over Canisius, winning in three straight sets.
As soon as the first serve crossed the court, RMU dominated this game. They would go on a run of six straight points to open up the match thanks to a phenomenal service run from Natalie Stepanovich, who would have two aces over that run.
The same would come in the second set, as this time Ashleigh Wallin was the one getting it going for the Colonials. Once again they would open up with a 6-0 lead and Wallin would have three aces over that run and a total of six for the match.
Head Coach Danny Doherty spoke about his team’s hot start to open up the game.
“It shows the determination they want to get after it,” Doherty said. “We’ve got some bulldogs on this team and that’s one of my favorite things to have is just people when they get backed into a corner they are going to bite your hand off. I think both of them just came out with that confidence.”
The Colonials would open up with a .389 hitting percentage in the first set and the next two you would see the percentage fall to .108 and .245. The total for the match would see RMU hit .246% of their attempts.
“That is a credit to Canisius. They made some adjustments. Volleyball is really a chess game and you really have to move some pieces around, they did a good job of confusing our attackers,” Coach Doherty said. “We dropped about .300 hitting percentage after the first set, I won’t say that normal but in this game it’s the Eb and flow and to see them hop back up to .245, that’s our sweet spot, I’m really proud about how they came back”.
At the beginning of the year This Colonial team got a transfer from Temple. Jaaliyah Evans is putting together a strong start to the year and is fitting in nicely with this RMU team. Coach Doherty was able to speak on what Jaaliyah has meant to the program in such a short time.
“Jaaliyah is one of my favorite human beings to ever grace this earth,” doherty said. “She is unbelievably positive, unbelievably aggressive. She wants this opportunity to go as amazing as we do. You can tell that every single day. She is an all-around amazing kid”.
Evans had a total of 12 kills for the game and was the Colonial’s leading scorer in that category.
While RMU made a trend of opening up sets with early leads, it did not carry over into the third, as Canisius would make the final set very competitive. In the middle of the set RMU would find themselves down 17-13. Coach Doherty would call a timeout and get his team together.
“Just say reset, refresh,” Doherty said. “We started out this week on a play for each point and I think we got a little ahead of ourselves. My assistants came up with an amazing game plan to start the match. I just reminded them of the game plan.’
Robert Morris will be in action again today, Sept. 21, when they face Central Michigan in their second game of the Four Twelve Project Volleyball Invitational at Duquesne’s UPMC Cooper Fieldhouse. First serve is set for 12 p.m.
