Box Score

ALBANY, N.Y. – Senior captain Michelle McCarthy had her best match in a Colgate uniform with a career-high 18 kills in a 3-1 (25-23, 21-25, 25-20, 25-23) win for the Raiders volleyball team over Albany on Wednesday evening.

Colgate (10-11) inched closer to the .500 mark with its sixth-straight win. McCarthy finished with18 kills and hit 28 percent with just four errors in 50 attempts. Diane Seely was just as dominant with 15 kills and she was productive with a .323 hitting percentage. Caitlin Cremin chipped in with 20 digs, while Lexi Finger recorded 19 digs. Jackie Macy had one her best matches as well with 32 assists.

“I am so proud of our effort tonight. McCarthy and Seely were unstoppable,” said head coach Ryan Baker. “This is a huge win against a great team. Now we need to refocus and get ready for two quality Patriot League opponents.”

The Great Danes (9-12) lead America East with an undefeated 6-0 record, got 17 kills from Traci Vandergrift and 14 from Sara Pope. Viktorila Stroilo was a force on the backline with 36 digs and Gabby Whitworth added 43 assists.

The Great Danes were able to jump out to a 10-6 lead early in the first set, but the Raiders responded to erase the lead and tie the game at 12-12. McCarthy had two kills and Seely and Liz Karnes added kills to tie the set. Colgate then earned its largest lead at 18-15 with assisted blocks from Seely, Karnes and Mari Faines, along with a kill by Seely.

The Raiders continued with the momentum and built a 22-17 advantage thanks to McCarthy and Seely once again as McCarthy had a pair of kills and Seely had one. However, the lead was cut down as the Great Danes went on a 6-1 run to tie the set at 23-23. The run didn't faze Colgate as the Raiders came back with back-to-back kills by McCarthy and Seely to close out the first set for a 25-23 win.

The opening loss for Albany didn't affect the team as the Great Danes earned a 7-2 lead in the second set. The Raiders clawed back to within one at 10-9 after kills by Karnes and Lindsay Young and Albany errors. The Great Danes jumped up by a few points, but once again the Raiders got back to within one at 16-15 after it was Seely and McCarthy with strikes. Colgate did come all the way back to tie the set at 21-21 on a Young kill, but Albany won the set with four-straight points at 25-21.

In the third set, the Raiders came ready to play and after five ties and three lead changes the Raiders jumped out to a 13-8 advantage. Macy had three service aces and Faines had a big kill early in the set during a 7-0 run. The Raiders built up a 17-9 lead with errors by the Great Danes, plus an ace from Finger and another kill by McCarthy. Albany inched closer to Colgate's lead, however, two kills by Young and one from Fifer put the set away at 25-20.

The back-and-forth battle continued into the fourth set as there were six ties after the first 22 points of the match. Colgate earned its first lead of the game at 12-11 with kills from the duo of McCarthy and Seely again. The lead increased to 15-12, but Albany answered to tie the set at 16-16. The battle was up-and-down the rest of the game. After the 17th tie of the set at 23-23, the Great Danes committed an error and Young closed out the match with a kill for the 25-23 win.

Colgate will be back in action this weekend with a visit from Lafayette on Friday night and a Saturday matinee against Lehigh.