VOLLEYBALL GAME CENTRAL

HAMILTON, N.Y. (10/28/10) – With American and Army set to claim the top two spots in the Patriot League Tournament, the Colgate women's volleyball team has its sights on the third spot as Bucknell comes to campus on Saturday.

The game is set for 4 p.m. at Cotterell Court and all links to live stats and Colgate All-Access will be available through Volleyball Game Central.

PATRIOT LEAGUE TOURNAMENT IMPLICATIONS
There are still three weeks left in the Patriot League season, but this weekend's matchup against Bucknell is a big one for the Raiders. Colgate sits in fourth at 5-4 and is one game behind the Bison (6-3) for third, however Lehigh is waiting to pounce in fifth at 4-5. Lehigh plays Lafayette on Friday night, so the Raiders will know what they have to do on Saturday. Colgate leads the season series with the Mountain Hawks with a win on Oct. 1 and the two teams will face each other next weekend.

BLOCKERS DOING THEIR PART
Colgate was a good blocking team a season ago and the Raiders are up in the top of the league in the category with 187.5 total blocks this season. They have averaged over two blocks per set in 91 sets. Colgate leads the conference with 56 solo blocks and has 263 assisted blocks. Senior captain Casey Ritt (Colorado Springs, Colo.) is the leader on the team with 85 total blocks with 18 coming solo, which leads the Patriot League. Junior Kaylee Dougherty (Landisville, Pa.) is second on the team with 54 total blocks and 45 of the assisted variety.

RAIDERS IN THE PL TOP-10
In addition to Ritt being in the top of the league in blocks, the Raiders have four other players in the top-10 in three different statistical categories. Senior captain Devon Applegate (Davidson, N.C.) is second in the conference in digs per set as she is averaging 3.8 per set. She has 338 total digs this season, which is third in the Patriot League. Rookie Kaylee Fifer (Lantana, Texas) has 508 helpers and is averaging 5.84 assists per set, which is fourth in the league. Her 508 number is fourth. Junior Blaire Safir (Oakland, Calif.) sneaked into the top-10 in assists at No. 9 with an average of 4.06 a set. Junior Maureen Colligan (Odessa, Fla.) ranks seventh in kills by averaging 2.35 per game and 188 total.

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 12 wins so far this season, head coach Ryan Baker now has 95 career victories to put him five away from 100 in his career. He has 73 wins with the Raiders. He was at Clarkson for a season prior to Colgate and posted a 22-11 record. With his 73 wins 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 BISON
Bucknell comes to Hamilton with an 8-13 overall record and a 6-3 conference mark. The Bison is coming off a sweep at the hands of American and defeated Navy the night before by a 3-1 margin. Bucknell has won six of its last eight matches, including a four-game winning streak in conference. The win over Colgate on Oct. 8 was part of that streak.

The Bison is in the bottom two in the league in all offensive categories. They are seventh in hitting percentage, assists and kills, while sixth in service aces. Heidi Kamp is the team leader in kills with 173 on the year. She also has 64 total blocks, which is second on the team. Kyleigh McAhren and Ragin Jackson are second and third in kills, respectively. McAhren has earned 114 kills and Jackson has 112. Rachel Rodriguez has handed out 364 and 25 service aces to lead the team. Leylin Marroquin is tops in digs with 207.

SERIES HISTORY
With the win by the Bison earlier in the year, Bucknell is getting close to evening the series. The Raiders hold a 26-22 advantage in the series and have won three of the last four. The teams first met back in 1984 and will be playing for the 49th time. The teams have only gone to a fifth set in four of 48 matches in the series and Bucknell has a 3-1 mark in those matchups.