VOLLEYBALL GAME CENTRAL

HAMILTON, N.Y. (10/19/10) – The Colgate women's volleyball team will wrap up its month-long road swing this weekend with a trip to American and Navy for a pair of Patriot League matches.

The American matchup starts at 7 p.m. on Friday night, followed by a 3 p.m. game at Navy on Saturday afternoon. Fans can get access all live match links by logging onto Volleyball Game Central.

LAST TIME OUT
Colgate halted a small two-game skid with a 3-1 win over Holy Cross in Patriot League action. The Raiders got a great performance from its Florida connection as rookie Lindsay Young (Tampa, Fla.) and junior Maureen Colligan (Odessa, Fla.) recorded 11 kills apiece to lead the way for the Raiders. Young also was big up front with seven total blocks. Fellow rookie Kaylee Fifer (Lantana, Texas) had 29 assists and tied for the game-high in digs with 15. Senior captain Devon Applegate (Davidson, N.C.) came through with 15 digs on the night as well and had two service aces for tops on the team. In the 3-0 loss to Army, the team 10 kills and 10 digs from senior captain Logan Keala (Kaneohe, Hawaii), while junior Blaire Safir (Oakland, Calif.) and Fifer added 15 and 13 assists, respectively. Freshman Caitlin Cremin (Naperville, Ill.) led the team in digs with 11 on the day.

SITTING IN FOURTH PLACE
The Raiders enter this weekend in fourth place in the Patriot League standings after splitting last week at Holy Cross and Army. Colgate has a 4-3 mark in conference and an 11-10 record overall. Four of the final seven matches come against teams that are below the Raiders in the standings. Lehigh is breathing down the neck of Colgate with a 3-4 mark and the Mountain Hawks have Holy Cross and Army this weekend. Bucknell, who sits in third and has the same matchups as the Raiders, so the match on Oct. 30 looks like it will decide the final two spots in the tournament.

FIVE SET SUCCESS
The Raiders have seen success in five set matches this season with a 6-2 mark. The six wins are the most since 1995 when Colgate went 6-1 overall in five-set matches. This season the Raiders have played in more five-set matches than three or four set matches. They have played six three-setters (2-4) and five four-setters (2-3).

LOOKING FOR WIN NO. 100
With 11 wins so far this season, head coach Ryan Baker now has 94 career victories to put him seven away from 100 in his career. He has 72 wins with the Raiders. He was at Clarkson for a season prior to Colgate and posted a 22-11 record. With his 712wins with the program he now has the second most wins by a Colgate coach. He is trailing only Janet Little, who had 385 wins in her 17 seasons.

SCOUTING THE EAGLES
American can be described in one word. Dominating. The Eagles come into Friday's match with a 19-2 overall mark and an undefeated record of 7-0 in the Patriot League. American has won 14-straight matches with the last six coming without dropping a set.

The Eagles are led by a pair of outside hitters in Magdalena Tekiel and Angelina Waterman. Tekiel has 251 kills this season and is averaging 3.8 per set. She only has 55 errors in 536 total attacks. Waterman has a .262 hitting percentage on 228 kills on 549 total attacks. With all the kills there has to be assists and Krysta Cicala has a team-high 530 assists and leads the league by averaging 9.46 per set. Libero Deborah Frantz is the team leader with 251 digs.

American continues to dominate the series with a 21-2 advantage after a 3-1 win over the Raiders in the first weekend of the Patriot League season. This is the 24th meeting between these two schools since 1996. The first win for Colgate came in the series opener with a 3-1 win and last season the Raiders shocked the Eagles with a 3-1 win on American's home court.

SCOUTING THE MIDSHIPMEN
Navy welcomes the Raiders with a 7-16 overall record and a 1-6 mark in conference play this season. The Midshipmen split with Lehigh and Lafayette last weekend with a 3-1 loss to the Mountain Hawks and a come-from-behind victory over the Leopards in a five set match. Prior to the win over Lafayette, Navy had lost six straight conference matches.

The Midshipmen have five players with over 100 kills on the season with Erin Fortner leading the way with 196 strikes. Maida Kalic' is second on the squad with 164 kills on 430 attacks. Fortner and Jenny Rudewicz have shared setting duties with Fortner recording 353 assists and Rudewicz adding 400 helpers. Fortner also has 26 service aces, but Holly Berger leads the team in the category with 27 and she is tops in digs with 321.

This will be the 39th meeting between Navy and Colgate with the Raiders holding a 26-12 advantage after a 3-1 win earlier this season. The first meeting came back in 1979 with the Mids taking a 2-0 win away from Colgate at the George Washington. The Raiders have won 10-straight matches over Navy, dating back to 2005.