Fresh off their first ever Horizon League championship and fourth appearance in the NCAA tournament, the Robert Morris Softball team is being picked to do it all over again.
The poll, which was released Wednesday morning and is voted on by other teams in the conference, marks the first time the team has ever been selected first.
The 48 total points and 6 first place votes marks the fantastic job done by eight year head coach Jexx Varner, who has continued to make large steps, even in the off-season.
On August 1, Varner announced the hire of former Texas Tech pitcher Maddy Wright to the coaching staff. Wright joins to help the Colonials in the pitching department, as well as experience adding technology to help the team in their efforts to go back to back.
Besides additions to the coaching staff, Varner also landed two big transfers. Aglaia Rudd and Eloise Facher join the Colonial roster for the 2026 season.
Rudd, a catcher from conference rival Purdue Fort Wayne, was a big get for the reigning champs. The Indiana native was the 2024 freshman of the year and a All-Conference First Team player. During her two seasons with the Mastodons, Rudd started in 63 games and played an additional five, collecting 67 hits, 43 RBI, 26 runs, and seven home runs.
Rudd also holds a .319 batting average, .359 on-base percentage, and a .968 fielding percentage.
Eloise Facher joins the Colonials from Kent state, where as an outfielder, the Pittsburgh native recorded a perfect 1.000 fielding percentage last year. The junior also collected 15 hits, 10 runs, and 5 RBI. Facher has a .420 on-base percentage and .341 batting average.
Coach Varner sat down with us before break to discuss his work, and described his team as “competitive” and “growing to know each other a little more, which is very natural for us in the fall.”
Last season the Colonials went 30-18 with a conference record of 16-7. In those run of games, the team mercy ruled their opponents 12 times, a level of dominance they’ll undoubtedly hope to replicate again.
The Colonials will open their season in the Winthrop Invite tournament where they’ll play Kent State and Le Moyne on Friday, February 13 and Winthrop on Saturday, February 14.
Other key games ahead are a bout with Pitt on March 11, the Colonial home opener on March 14, and the conference opener against Green Bay on March 20.
