MOON TOWNSHIP — The Robert Morris Colonials (7-9, 0-4 Horizon) welcomed Cleveland State (5-10, 2-2) to a Horizon league battle that Robert Morris is looking for their first win in Horizon League play. But they couldn’t figure out the Vikings Tuesday evening as they fell 3-1.

The Colonials got off to a strong start in the first set as Abby Ryan started the match with a kill, and the Colonials would grab a couple more points to go out to a 5-4 lead.

Robert Morris would maintain pressure on Cleveland State, keep their lead, and force CSU to call a timeout down 11-7. Then CSU would go on a huge run, lead the first set by 19-15, and force head coach Danny Doherty to use a timeout.

“Well, realistically, it doesn’t matter what I say in the end; we got to a point where we were worried about ourselves…we believed in us…and we just had to be a little more efficient with it after that timeout”.

The Colonials would fight their way back into the match. The ending of set one went back and forth between both teams, and the Colonials would take the 24-23 lead off of an error by CSU for set point, but CSU had other plans and would tie it up at 24 a piece to force overtime. You must win by two points to win the set. The Colonials would get an ace and a service error to win set one.

Set two is where things went wrong for the Colonials, as the Vikings were downright dominant in the second set and led at one point 13-7 lead and would win the second set by a score of 25-13.

In the third set, the Colonials showed some more fighting in their will to win and get back into the match. The beginning of the third set went back and forth between the two teams. Both teams just went blow for blow in the set.

Then Cleveland State would take command and win with a 6-point run to close out the third set. “They still came out with the intent to fight…we just weren’t efficient enough to close out the set,” Coach Doherty also stated, “Cleveland State did a nice job putting the balls on us and forcing us to make plays.”

The fourth was probably an instant classic set for Horizon League Volleyball. Robert Morris and Cleveland State just went blow for blow in this set. The most significant lead anyone had in this was three points by CSU. Both teams just did a tremendous job working together and making this set probably the set of the year.

Coach Doherty said, “This team has a lot of reliance, and they believe in themselves, so that’s why even after that third set, they achieved something.”

Cleveland State would close out set number four by a score of 26-24. The Colonials rallied back to force overtime for a second time. However, they could not prevail in the second go around over time.

The Colonial will look to get their first win in Horizon League to play on Friday as they will welcome Purdue Fort Wayne for a 6 p.m. bout.