WEST POINT, N.Y.  (10/23/09) – Colgate had a balanced offensive attack with four players posting 10 or more kills, but it wasn't enough as Army edged the Raiders 22-25, 25-16, 25-21, 18-25, 15-12, Friday afternoon in a Patriot League match-up between the top two programs in the standings.

It marked the first time in five times to West Point that Colgate captured at least one game off the Cadets.  Previously, the Raiders had been swept at Gillis Fieldhouse nine of the last 10 trips heading into this match.  Colgate's 2003 team was the last to win a set in West Point, but fell 3-1.

The Raiders, now 9-11 overall and 6-2 in league play, received a team-high 13 kills from Logan Keala (Kaneohe, Hawaii) and a dozen from Maureen Colligan (Odessa, Fla.) in the loss.  Kaleigh Durket (El Dorado Hills, Calif.) and Kaylee Dougherty (Landisville, Pa.) had 11 and 10 kills respectively to close out the players with double figured kill totals.

Colgate rallied from a seven-point deficit to take the opening set.  Down 16-9, the Raiders edged closer and pulled to within 21-20 on a kill by Dougherty.  Durkett then tied the game at 21-21 with a service ace.  From that point on, Dougherty and Durkett each tallied two kills to close out the game.

After dropping the second and third sets of the match, the Raiders got off to a quick start and took an early 7-2 lead in the fourth game.  The Black Knights battled back and tied the game at 9-9.  With the set knotted at 11-11, Dougherty gave Colgate the lead for good with a kill from Blaire Safir (Oakland, Calif.).  Up by two, the Raiders put the game away with six consecutive points to take a commanding 22-14 advantage.  Keala forced a fifth set by ending the game with a kill.

The final and deciding set saw three ties, including the final one at 8-8.  Colgate killed off one match point on a kill by Colligan to pull the Raiders within 14-12.

Defensively, Keala led the charge with a career-high 18 digs, besting her former high of 16 set earlier this season at Navy.  Devon Applegate (Davidson, N.C.), the Patriot League's top digger, finished with 17 on the afternoon.  Durket completed a double-double with 13 digs.  Dougherty led the Raiders' blocking efforts with five block assists.  Meghan Fanta (Hillsboro, Wisc.) dished out 31 assists.

Army, which improved to 20-3 overall and 8-0 in league play, was led by Ariana Mankus' match-high 24 kills.

Colgate will attempt to salvage a split on the road tomorrow as it travels to play Holy Cross.  Match time in Worcester, Mass., is set for 2 p.m.

Final Box