Box Score

ITHACA, N.Y. – In a very competitive match, the Colgate women's volleyball team came back from two deficits to force a fifth set, but the Raiders dropped a 3-2 (25-16, 25-27, 25-11, 10-25, 15-12) decision at Cornell on Tuesday evening.

Diane Seely was impressive for the Raiders with 10 kills and seven blocks. Kaylee Fifer finished with 25 assists and 10 digs for a double-double. Lindsay Young had nine kills and Michelle McCarthy posted eight, while Allie Dyer had 12 digs.

The Big Red (3-8) saw Breanna Wong lead the way with 18 kills, while Rachel D'Epagnier finished with 15 strikes. Kelly Reinke set both of them and others up with 49 assists and she also added 10 digs.

Cornell jumped out to a quick 7-4 lead early in the first set, but the Raiders fired back with blocks by McCarthy and Liz Karnes, then a kill from Mari Faines and a Cornell error to tie the set at 7-7. The Big Red then opened up a 12-8 that forced a Colgate timeout after a 5-1 run. Cornell kept the momentum and built up a 20-14 lead, continuing its run before the timeout. The Big Red was able to win the first set by a 25-16 score after hitting over 35 percent with 15 kills.

Colgate (4-11) looked like a totally different team at the beginning of the second set, earning the first seven points. It was a big team effort as four different players had kills. The Raiders increased the advantage to 13-6 after strikes from McCarthy and Fifer, while also forcing Big Red errors.

Cornell clawed back to within three at 13-11 with a small run with four kills and then the Big Red came all the way back to take a 19-18 lead on a kill by D'Epagnier. Cornell added to its advantage, but that did not faze the Raiders as they came back to tie it at 23-23 on a Seely strike. After the teams traded points, Young came through with a kill and then an ace by Kaylee Fifer sealed the second set for the Raiders at 27-25. Fifer was a force in the set with five kills and 10 assists.

In the third set, the Big Red jumped out to a 7-2 lead with kills from D'Epagnier and Kelly Marble, while also earning points on Colgate errors. The Raiders sliced the lead down to two at 10-8 on kills by Young and Karnes, but Cornell answered with a 5-0 run to get a Colgate timeout and a 15-8 advantage.  That's all the Big Red needed to get going as Cornell closed out the set with an overall run of 15-3 and a 25-11 win.

The Raiders got out to a 9-5 lead with a kill by McCarthy and a service ace by Caitlin Cremin and the defense stepped up on long rallies, including blocks from Seely, Fifer and Faines. The net presence continued and with back-to-back blocks from Seely and Faines, the Raiders built a 14-9 lead.

The run continued on a service ace from Brooke Shupryt-Knoop and many Cornell errors as the Raiders turned tides on the home team from the third set and had a 19-9 advantage. The Big Red couldn't answer the run and Colgate forced a fifth set with a 25-10 win. The defense showed up on the stat sheet as Colgate had 10 total blocks in the set, with six from Seely.

Cornell went up early in the fifth set with a 7-4 advantage. Colgate fought back with a block from Seely and Fifer and also a kill by Seely to cut the lead to 8-6. The Raiders got to within one at 10-9 with a strike from Faines, but the Big Red won the set by a 15-12 score and closed it out with Marble earning the kill.

Colgate will be back in action this weekend with visits to Holy Cross and Army.