ON TAP THIS WEEK: After splitting a pair in its Patriot League opening weekend, Colgate will play three games beginning with a non conference clash with in state rival UAlbany, Wednesday evening at Cotterell Court. The Raiders will take to the road once again to tangle with Navy, Friday evening and then American on Saturday.
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 50-50 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 dropped a 25-27, 20-25, 25-22, 22-25 decision to visiting Army, Saturday afternoon at Cotterell Court. Logan Keala was the lone Raider to register double figured kill totals with a career high 13 on the afternoon. The junior's performance bested her former career high of 12 set three different times, most recently against St. John's on September 19 in Ithaca. Kaylee Dougherty, Maureen Colligan and Kaleigh Durket each posted nine kills in the loss to the Golden Knights, while Casey Ritt registered the best hitting performance of the regulars with a .368 effort (8-1-19). The junior led the blocking efforts as well with a five-block performance (1 block solo and four block assists).
THE SERIES RECORDS: Colgate holds a 22-13 advantage over Navy in the series which dates back to 1979. The Raiders have won the last six meetings, which includes a pair of three-set sweeps over the Midshipmen in the 2008 campaign. American holds a commanding 18-1 series lead over the Raiders in the series that dates back to 1996. The Eagles head into Saturday's match-up with an 18-match win streak over Colgate. The Raiders took American to four games in the 2008 Patriot League Tournament title match after suffering regular-season sweeps at the hands of the Eagles. Colgate and American have met in the tournament finale the last two seasons,
SCOUTING THE OPPOSITION:
Albany enters Wednesday night's contest sporting an 8-8 mark. The Great Danes come to Hamilton sporting a three-match win streak after winning the HD Holiday Inn Tournament in Philadelphia last weekend with victories over Santa Clara (3-1), St. Francis of Pa. (3-0) and Penn (3-1). UAlbany's offense has three players over 100 kills on the season. Valarie Sourbeer (169 kills, .248 hitting percentage), Hillary White (144 kills, .249 hitting percentage) and Teresa Coppiellie (131 kills, 101 digs) lead the charge. The offense is quarterbacked by Brooke Stanley (581 assists). Casey Wright (39 blocks) and Laurie Gonzales (198 digs) pace the Great Danes on the defensive side of things.
Navy is 4-11 overall and 1-1 in the Patriot League. The Midshipmen posted a split against the Keystone State schools with a 3-1 loss to Lehigh and a 3-2 win at Lafayette. Navy will play Coppin State Wednesday evening prior to meeting the Raiders in Annapolis. The offense features three players over 100 kills with Carolyn Ewert (141 kills), Meghan Carpenter (122 kills), and Abbie Merkl (115 kills, 18 aces). Jenny Rudewicz has handed out 434 assists thus far. Defensively, Krista Eschelman (34 blocks) and Holly Berger (138 digs) lead the way.
American is 6-8 overall and 1-1 in league action. The Eagles defeated Lafayette before suffering a stunning 3-1 upset at Lehigh. After dropping the first five matches of the year, American has recovered with wins over Portland (3-2), NJIT (3-1), Howard (3-0), North Carolina (3-1) and Loyola of Maryland (3-0). Angelina Waterman (177 kills, 103 digs, 18 aces) is off to a solid start. Magdalena Tekiel (141 kills, 17 aces) and Cassandra Ricketts (128 kills) are two other top offensive threats. Krysta Cicala (500 assists) runs the offense for the nine-time defending Patriot League champions. Defensively, Claire Recht (40 blocks) and Rebecca Heath (154) pace American.
HIGHLY EFFICIENT: Kaylee Dougherty had one of her best hitting weekend of her career thus far. The sophomore hit a combined .3878 on the weekend against Holy Cross and Army (23-4-49). Dougherty hit an impressive .542 in the conference opener versus the Crusaders with a career-best 14 kills. Fellow middle blocker Casey Ritt hit .447 for the weekend (20-3-38) with eight blocks. With her performance against Holy Cross and Army, the junior has moved into sixth in the Patriot League rankings in hitting percentage (.266).
INSTANT IMPACT: Kaleigh Durket is trying her best to replace all-time Colgate kill leader Katrina Zawojski. The freshman has either led or tied for the team lead in kills eight of the 12 matches. Durket ranks among the league's top 10 in three statistical categories including being sixth in kills per set (3.06 kps). Named to all-tournament teams at Harvard and Cornell Invitationals, the product of El Dorado Hills, Calif., hammered down 20 kills, hit .390 and collected 10 digs and three blocks in the five-set loss to Harvard for her best overall performance of her young career
ALPHA DIGGER: After sitting behind all-time Colgate and Patriot League digger Jackie Adlam for two years, Devon Applegate is showing she is more than a capable replacement. The junior leads the league with a 4.13 dig per set average. She posted her fourth match of 20 or more digs with a 21-dig effort versus Army. Her all-time high was established against Long Island U with 25.
LENDING A HELPING HAND: Senior Meghan Fanta enters the weekend in 10th place on the Patriot League all-time assist chart. With her 61 assists versus Holy Cross and Army last weekend, the senior needs nine more assists to surpass Megan Carter of Lafayette for ninth and 67 more to move by former Bucknell setter Shannon Pitsch for eighth. The all-time assist leader in Colgate history has 3,548 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. Christina Nash, American (05-08) 3,949
5. Elita Powell, Army (90-93) 3,931
6. Patty Watson, Lehigh (95-98) 3,809
7. Maureen Bannon, Army (06-SA) 3,662
8. Shannon Pitsch, Bucknell (05-08) 3,614
9. Megan Carter, Lafayette (05-08) 3,556
10. MEGHAN FANTA, COLGATE (06-SA) 3,548
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.
