VOLLEYBALL GAME CENTRAL

HAMILTON, N.Y. (11/18/10) – Riding a six-match winning streak, the Colgate women's volleyball team jumps into the Patriot League Tournament as the third seed and will face second-seeded Army at 6 p.m. on Saturday in the semifinals at American.

The Patriot League will be providing live video for all the games this weekend and the link is available through the Volleyball Game Central link. This year's tournament features American as the top seed with Army at No. 2, followed by Colgate and then Bucknell in the final spot. The semifinals are set for Saturday afternoon at 4 and 6 p.m., while the championship match will be on Sunday at 4 p.m. at Bender Arena.

PEAKING AT THE RIGHT TIME
The Raiders enter the tournament with a 17-11 overall record and a 10-4 mark in conference play. Colgate is currently on its longest winning streak of the season with six consecutive wins in league play, which included a 3-1 win over Army last weekend. During the streak, the Raiders have won four of the six with a sweep and the other two came in four sets.

TOURNAMENT HISTORY
Colgate made its first appearance in the 1991 tournament and has played in 13 since. The Raiders have an 18-9 mark in the Patriot League Tournament and have won three tournament titles. They won back in 1995, 1996 and 1999. The 1990 title was without a tournament as the winner was based on the best conference mark at the end of the season. Under head coach Ryan Baker, Colgate is 2-3 in three tournament appearances. The Raiders have made two championship matches in the past three years, falling to American in each of those years.

THREE LAND ON ALL-PATRIOT LEAGUE TEAMS
Led by senior captain Casey Ritt (Colorado Springs, Colo.), the Raiders had three players earn All-Patriot League honors. Ritt was a first team selection after leading the conference in blocks. She received the first team honor for the third consecutive season. Juniors Maureen Colligan (Odessa, Fla) and Kaylee Dougherty (Landisville, Pa.) were both selected to the second team. Colligan was named to a postseason all-league team for the first time. She is currently sixth in the conference in kills and is averaging 2.66 strikes a game. Dougherty was named an all-league performer for the second time in her Colgate career. Last season she was a first team selection. The junior played in 24 matches for the Raiders and missed two conference matches due to a lower leg injury. She finished with 194 kills on 456 attempts and a .224 hitting percentage.

BAKER REACHES MILESTONE
Head coach Ryan Baker reached a career milestone with the 3-0 win over Holy Cross on Saturday. He has 78 wins for the Raiders in four-plus seasons in Hamilton. He was at Clarkson for a season prior to Colgate and posted a 22-11 record. With his 78 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 BLACK KNIGHTS
Army enters the tournament with an 18-13 overall record and an 11-3 mark in conference action. Army has lost two of its last three matches, which came at the hands of American and Colgate. Earlier in the conference season, the Black Knights started with 10 wins in their first 11 Patriot League matches.

Ariana Mankus leads the team with 330 kills on 990 attempts for a .206 hitting percentage. She is second on the team with 306 digs on the year. Megan Wilton, the PL Rookie of the Year, is second on the team with 233 strikes, while Karyn Powell is tops with 1,103 assists and was named PL Setter of the Year. Wilton has been a leader on the front line with 89 total blocks and Brittany Jensen has 409 digs for the team lead in the category. Jensen was selected as the PL Defensive Player of the Year.

SCOUTING THE EAGLES
American comes into the Patriot League Tournament as the top seed and undefeated in conference action at 14-0. Overall the Eagles are 27-2 on the season with their only losses coming against Georgetown and at Oregon. They have only dropped four sets in league play all season.

American is led by Patriot League Player of the Year in Magdalena Tekiel as she has posted 358 kills on 744 attempts and leads the league with a .354 hitting percentage. Her 358 kills are also tops in the conference. She's recorded 59 blocks and 206 digs. The Eagles feature three first team All-Patriot League honorees in Tekiel, Cassandra Ricketts and Angelina Waterman. Ricketts has 143 kills and 43 blocks, while Waterman posted 323 kills for second on the team and 217 digs.

SCOUTING THE BISON
Bucknell makes the trip to Washington, D.C., after winning two of its final six games. The Bison are 10-16 overall and 8-6 in conference play. They had a season long four-game winning streak early in the league year. The four wins came against Navy, Lafayette, Lehigh and Colgate.

The team is led by first team All-Patriot League selection Heidi Kamp, who has a team-high 218 kills and 79 total blocks. Rachel Rodriguez is on the top in assists with 485 and she also has posted 181 digs. The leader in digs is Leylin Marroquin with 268 on the year.