MOON TOWNSHIP — This past week, the Robert Morris volleyball program signed three recruits to their class of 2020 in Emma Brown, Annie Monaco and Abby Ryan.

“This 2020 class is exciting for us to add to an already tremendous team,” said head coach Dale Starr in the press release from RMU Athletics. “We will be a more competitive group in 2020 with the addition of these three. Without losing a player from our 2019 team, the future is very bright for RMU volleyball. I’m excited to get everyone in the gym for another great year!”

Brown hails from Westerville, Ohio, and plays middle-blocker and right side. The recruit comes to Robert Morris with a lot of achievements already under her belt. She won an AAU National Championship, a state championship and a silver medal at the USA Volleyball Girls Junior National Champions all this past year.

In addition to the winning pedigree that she brings, she competed at a strong level individually in high school as she was a three-time All-CCL selection and made All-District First Team, her second in her career, and All-Ohio Honorable Mention during her senior season. She made the Under Armour Watch List from 2017 to 2019 and hit at a .765 clip and recorded 176 total blocks in high school.

Monaco comes from Dover, Ohio, and played for New Philadelphia High School and The Academy for Volleyball Cleveland as an outside-hitter and setter. Just like Brown, Monaco brings a winning pedigree to Robert Morris. She won two district championships, two sectional championships and three league championships with New Philadelphia.

Individually she is a three-time All-District five pick, with two first-team selections, and was a two-time All-Ohio honorable mention. She was also League Player of the Year this past season.

The winning-pedigree trend continues with Ryan, as the outside-hitter from Orchard Park, N.Y. won two division titles and a section title as a junior while playing for Orchard Park High School. Ryan played club volleyball with Niagara Frontier and has been named All-Western New York, Maroon Key MVP, and All-State Large Schools Fourth Team while in high school.

She leaves Orchard Park High School as one of the best athletes in the school’s history, after setting a school-record 1,400 kills and finishing her career with 472 digs, 181 service aces and 101 blocks.

As stated by Starr in his quote from the press release, the entire 2019 NEC-regular season champions Robert Morris volleyball team (25-4, 15-1 NEC) will return next year with these three additions. The Colonials are set to face-off against Central Connecticut State University (14-14, 10-6 NEC) in the conference semi-finals at the UPMC Events Center on Friday. The winner will take on the winner of Sacred Heart (18-11, 13-3 NEC) and Long Island University (12-16, 11-5 NEC) on Saturday for the NEC Tournament championship.