ON TAP THIS WEEK: Colgate will play two matches this week, one at home and one on the road. The Raiders will take a break from their Patriot League slate Wednesday evening with a non-conference showdown with in state rival Binghamton. The match gets underway at 7 p.m. Then, Colgate takes to the road to play its league travel partner Bucknell, Friday night in Lewisburg, Pa. The match starts at 7 p.m.
MEET THE COACH: Ryan Baker is in his fourth season at the helm of the Colgate program. The Utica, N.Y. native has taken the Raiders from the bottom of the Patriot League to the upper echelon in a short period of time. Baker sports a 56-52 record at Colgate after taking over the program for the 2006 season. In his second year, the Ithaca College graduate piloted the Raiders to a 17-13 overall record, the program's first winning season since 1996. Colgate has advanced to the Patriot League Tournament final the last two years – defeating Army in a semifinal match-up both times before falling to American in the finale. After guiding Clarkson to a 22-11 record in 2004, Baker served as an assistant at Colgate for the 2005 season before being elevated.
LAST TIME OUT: Colgate split a pair of road contests at West Point and Worcester, Mass. On Saturday, the Raiders hit a shade under .300 (.298) in a three-set sweep of Holy Cross – 25-23, 25-18, 25-17. Kaleigh Durket had 11 kills on the evening, while Kaylee Dougherty posted one of her best hitting performances of her career (10-0-15, .667). Devon Applegate and Kelsea Loveless led in digs with 11 and 10 respectively as Colgate completed the season sweep of the Crusaders.
Friday afternoon's match featured the top two teams in the Patriot League. Army prevailed in five 22-25, 25-16, 25-21, 18-25, 15-12 in a match that took over two hours to complete. Logan Keala led Colgate with 13 kills and a career high 18 digs, while Maureen Colligan chipped in a dozen kills. It was the first time in five tries to West Point the Raiders had managed to win at least one set. Colgate had been swept at Army in nine of the last ten meetings. Only the 2003 squad managed to win one game, but lost 3-1.
THE SERIES RECORDS: Colgate trails in the all-time series with Binghamton 9-8, which includes a four-set victory last year in Vestal. The Raiders hold a 25-20 lead over Bucknell.
SCOUTING THE OPPOSITION:
Binghamton is 11-11 on the season, 3-3 in the month of October. The Bearcats dropped a pair of losses to Albany in back-to-back fashion. Binghamton fell in five at UAlbany Friday evening and then was swept by the Great Danes Sunday afternoon at home. Aside from Albany, Colgate and Binghamton have a few common opponents in Cornell and Siena. The Raiders split with those two, while Binghamton posted sweeps against Big Red and the Saints. The Bearcats also took Army to five games in West Point before bowing to the Black Knights.
Players to Watch
Anna Lejina - 305 kills, 132 digs
Michelle McDonough – 301 kills, 18 service aces, 211 digs
Dawn Lammert – 125 kills, 66 blocks
Lindsey Mueller – 786 assists, 177 digs
Brianna Strong – 360 digs
Bucknell is 8-13 overall and 4-5 in league action. Since the last time both teams played on October 9 at Cotterell Court, the Bison are 2-2. Bucknell swept Lafayette and Lehigh, but suffered 3-1 road losses to Holy Cross and Army last weekend.
Players to Watch
Kaitlin Segal – 201 kills, 189 digs
Heidi Kamp – 169 kills, 65 blocks
Ragin Jackson – 143 kills, 61 blocks
Allison Gittings – 499 assists
Emily Sawanobori – 267 digs, 29 aces
LAST TIME AGAINST THE BISON: Kaleigh Durket posted 16 kills, while Casey Ritt and Kaylee Dougherty added 13 and 12 respectively as Colgate downed Bucknell. The Bison fought off one match point to claim game three, but never threatened Colgate in the clinching fourth set. The Raiders held Bucknell to .080 hitting on the evening (39-28-138) by using a strong blocking performance with 10 team blocks.
POUNDING THE PATRIOT LEAGUE: Kaylee Dougherty's and Casey Ritt's hitting percentages are significantly higher against league competition. In nine matches, Dougherty is hitting .318 versus Patriot League foes with 92 kills in 201 swings (28 errors), while Ritt is swinging a shade under .300 (.297) with 71 kills in 165 attacks.
A LEAGUE OF THEIR OWN: Casey Ritt and Devon Applegate continue to lead Patriot League in blocks and digs per set respectively. Both hold slim leads in their respective categories heading into play this week. Ritt is averaging 0.95 blocks per set, only .01 blocks better than Army's Amanda Rowell and American's Claire Recht. Applegate, who has led the league in digs for several weeks, is posting 4.03 digs per set, which is .02 better than Bucknell's Kari Horn.
IN THE RANKINGS: Kaleigh Durket is ranked among the league leaders in three statistical categories – third in service aces (0.36), fifth in kills per game (3.17), and eighth in hitting percentage (.272). Casey Ritt is right behind Durket in hitting efficiency (.261), while Meghan Fanta is seventh in assists per set (6.51). Kaylee Dougherty stands seventh in the league in blocking (0.78 bps).
DIFFERENT SPELLINGS, SAME RESULTS: Since the victory at American, Kaylee Dougherty and Kaleigh Durket has been one hot tandem. Durket has hit .313 with 80 kills, 55 digs and 12 block assists in her last seven efforts, while Kaylee has 61 kills, a .310 hitting percentage, six block solos and 18 block assists in the same stretch.
BACK-TO-BACK: Kaleigh Durket was named the Patriot League Player of the Week following her efforts versus Syracuse and Bucknell. In her two matches, the freshman accounted for 27 kills (3.86 kps), a .290 hitting percentage, 15 digs, three blocks and one service ace. Durket posted a team-best 11 kills and a .364 hitting percentage against the Orange and then 16 kills and 12 digs against Bucknell. It marked the second consecutive week she received weekly honors. Durket was tabbed as the Rookie of the Week on October 12.
LENDING A HELPING HAND: Meghan Fanta remains in eighth on the all-time Patriot League assist list. However, she could move into seventh with a strong week versus Binghamton and Bucknell. The senior is 47 assists away from passing Patty Watson of Lehigh on the all-time league list. The all-time assist leader in Colgate history has 3,763 on her career. During her career she has established the single season school assist record (1,191 in 2006), the second highest assist total (1,149 in 2007), and the 10th best (902 in 2008).
All-Time PL Top 10
1. Beth Bellinger, Army (98-01) 4,380
2. Sue Snyder, Lehigh (92-95) 4,190 ?
3. Abby Casciato, Army (02-05) 4,091 ?
4. Maureen Bannon, Army (06-SA) 3,964
5. Christina Nash, American (05-08) 3,949
6. Elita Powell, Army (90-93) 3,931
7. Patty Watson, Lehigh (95-98) 3,809
8. Meghan Fanta, Colgate (2006-SA) 3,763?
9. Shannon Pitsch, Bucknell (05-08) 3,614
10. Megan Carter, Lafayette (05-08) 3,556 ?
PICKED SECOND IN THE PL: After advancing to back to back league tournament finales, Colgate was selected to finish second in the Patriot League Preseason Poll as determined by the league head coaches and volleyball media relation contacts at member institutions. American copped 12 of 16 first place votes and was the consensus choice to win its ninth consecutive league title. The Raiders collected three first place votes and 79 points to edge Army by one point in the voting.
