ON TAP THIS WEEK: Colgate travels to West Point to participate in the 2009 Patriot League Volleyball Tournament. The Raiders finished the regular-season with a 15-12 overall mark and an 11-3 record in league play. Colgate will bring the third seed with it to Gillis Fieldhouse and open with second seeded American (17-11, 11-3), which defeated the Raiders in four sets, Friday evening at Cotterell Court. Colgate and the Eagles will play in the second semifinal Saturday evening at 6 p.m., while top seeded Army (23-5, 12-2) will host fourth seeded Lehigh (14-15, 7-7) earlier in the day. This will mark the first time since 1994 that Army has hosted and the first time American hasn't hosted the tournament since it joined the Patriot League in 2001.
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 61-53 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 on its final weekend to secure its third-consecutive winning season. The Raiders fell in four to American (13-25, 23-25, 25-20, 16-25), Friday evening. Kaleigh Durket and Casey Ritt posted 12 and 10 kills respectively versus the Eagles in the rematch. Kaylee Dougherty was once again effective when hitting as the sophomore connected with a .467 hitting percentage (9-2-15) and led the Raiders' blocking efforts with five. American used a strong blocking performance (11 team blocks) and held Colgate to a .108 hitting percentage in the victory. Devon Applegate led the Raiders with 13 digs on the evening. Colgate sent three seniors out in style with a 25-14, 25-19, 25-15 sweep over visiting Navy on Senior Day. Ten Raiders tallied at least one kill in the win, with none of them eclipsing double figures. Durket had a team-high eight kills, while Dougherty added six.
ALL-LEAGUE ACCOLADES: Colgate placed three on the post season all-league teams. For the second consecutive season, the Raiders had two first team selections and one second team member. Casey Ritt garnered all-league status for her third consecutive season. The junior was named a first team recipient for the second consecutive. She was a second team honoree as a sophomore. Kaylee Dougherty gained her first end of year recognition as a first teamer, while Kaleigh Durket was named a second team selection.
ALL-TIME SERIES RECORDS VERSUS OPPONENTS: Colgate trails the all-time series with American 19-3. After the Raiders won the first meeting in 1996, the Eagles followed with 18 consecutive wins before Colgate posted its' first-ever victory at Bender on October 3.
Should Colgate face-off with Army in the second round, the Black Knights lead the series 29-22. The Raiders and Army have a recent history in Patriot League Tournament play. Colgate knocked off the Golden Knights in one semifinal match in the 2007 and 2008 tournaments to advance to the final versus American. The Raiders have a 30-13 lead versus Lehigh, including winning the last six meetings versus the Mountain Hawks.
COLGATE LEADERS
Hitting Percentage: Casey Ritt and Kaylee Dougherty .266
Kills: Kaleigh Durket (316), Logan Keala (226)
Assists: Meghan Fanta 685), Blaire Safir (359)
Aces: Kaleigh Durket (31), Logan Keala (29)
Digs: Devon Applegate (415), Logan Keala (258)
Blocks: Casey Ritt (100), Kaylee Dougherty (76)
COLGATE PLAYERS RANKED IN PATRIOT LEAGUE
Hitting Percentage: Casey Ritt and Kaylee Dougherty (T7, .266)
Kills Per Set: Kaleigh Durket (5th-3.06)
Assists Per Set: Meghan Fanta (7th-6.59)
Service Aces Per Set: Kaleigh Durket (7th-0.31)
Blocks Per Set: Casey Ritt (2nd – 0.98), Kaylee Dougherty (6ht-0.79)
Digs Per Set – Devon Applegate (2nd-3.99)
SCOUTING THE OPPOSITION:
American heads to West Point sporting an eight-match unbeaten streak. The Eagles, who lead the Patriot League in hitting percentage (.233) and blocks per set (2.18), are paced by a pair of first team all-league honorees in Magdalena Tekiel (310 kills, 27 aces, 161 digs) and Claire Recht (209 kills, 24 aces, 103 blocks) as well as second team honoree – Angelina Waterman (335 kills, 184 digs, 33 aces, 62 blocks).
Army sports a 24-5 overall mark. The Black Knights are led by Ariana Mankus (386 kills, 34 aces, 282 digs), who was named as the Patriot League Player and Rookie of the Year and setter of the year Maureen Bannon (955 assists, 38 aces, 207 digs). In addition, Army had two second team honorees – Amanda Rowell (233 kills, 98 blocks) and Francine Vazquez (250 kills, 24 aces, 227 digs, 73 blocks).
Lehigh heads to West Point with a 14-15 mark. The Mountain Hawks recovered from a five-match losing streak to win four of their last six matches to qualify for the tournament. Lehigh is paced by first team selection Angelika Kopacz (338 kills, 41 aces, 329 digs) and league defensive player of the year Emma Melendez (414 digs).
THIS YEAR VERSUS AMERICAN: Both teams won on the opposition's court in four sets. On October 3, Colgate rallied from a set down to stun the Eagles 14-25, 25-23, 25-23, 25-23 at Bender Arena. Maureen Colligan and Kaleigh Durket each posted 13-kill performances, while Kaylee Dougherty added 11 kills and five blocks as Colgate won its first ever match at American. Durket had those 13 kills on 25 swings – no errors, which computes to a .520 hitting percentage. Devon Applegate posted 15 digs in the four-set match, while the Raiders also benefitted from a strong blocking performance with 14 team blocks. As mentioned before, the Eagles turned the trick on the Raiders last Friday evening at Cotterell Court 25-13, 25-23, 20-25, 25-16.
NO MATTER WHAT HAPPENS: Win or lose, Colgate has already secured its third consecutive winning season. The last time that happened was back in 1994-1995-1996 when current Colgate Assistant AD Vicky Chun was presiding over the program. When Ryan Baker accepted the head coaching position, Colgate had posted nine-consecutive losing seasons.
WHAT'S UP DOC: Over her past 10 matches, you might be pressed to find a hotter hitter on the Colgate roster than Kaylee Dougherty. Beginning with a four-set victory against Bucknell on October 9, the sophomore is hitting .3529 (87-21-187) during this span. Her last six matches have been even more impressive with a .5416 hitting percentage (58-6-96). Those numbers include one of her most efficient matches of her career with a .667 hitting efficiency (10-0-15) in a three-set win at Holy Cross. Last weekend versus American and Navy, she hit a combined .560 (15-1-25) versus the Eagles and Mids.
LENDING A HELPING HAND: Depending on how many matches Colgate plays, Meghan Fanta could have an opportunity to climb two spots on the all-time Patriot League assist. Heading into the semifinal versus American, the senior has 3,927 assists, which is only five assists away from passing Elita Powell of Army for sixth on the all-time league list and is 71 short of passing Christina Nash for fifth. 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) 3,988
5. Christina Nash, American (05-08) 3,949
6. Elita Powell, Army (90-93) 3,931
7. Meghan Fanta, Colgate (2006-SA) 3,927
8. Patty Watson, Lehigh (95-98) 3,809
9. Shannon Pitsch, Bucknell (05-08) 3,614
10. Megan Carter, Lafayette (05-08) 3,556
IN SEASON ACCOLADES: Kaylee Dougherty became the second Raider to garner Patriot League Player of the Week in 2009. The sophomore tallied 25 kills; hit .500 and five blocks as Colgate posted two wins versus Lafayette and Lehigh. Dougherty hit .550 and collected 13 kills, one short of her career high, versus Lafayette. The following afternoon, she had her ninth match of 10 or more kills with 12 in a five-set victory over Lehigh. Kaleigh Durket was named the player of the week for her performances versus Syracuse and Bucknell.
