Box Score

RALEIGH, N.C. – Colgate volleyball has its signature win of 2013 tournament season so far with a 3-2 (17-25, 18-25, 25-17, 30-28, 15-13) come-from-behind win over N.C. State on Saturday afternoon at the Midtown Invitational.

Colgate (7-4) showed a lot of heart and determination in the match after going down 2-0 early on. Diane Seely finished with a team-high 15 kills, while Katie Stebbins had 12 and Harris had 11 strikes. Kaylee Fifer was instrumental in the win with 45 assists and nine kills, including a pair in the final set that changed the momentum in Colgate's favor.

The backline was tremendous with Harris adding 20 digs to go along with her 11 kills and Caitlin Cremin posted a match-high 25 digs. Allie Dyer was impressive with 15 digs and made a lot of plays down the stretch to keep the ball alive.

"This is a huge win for our players, program and university," head coach Ryan Baker said. "NC State is one of the top programs in the ACC and in the country. Our team never gave up and continued to plug away. I was so proud of our senior leadership."

NC State (8-3) saw Nikki Glass record 20 kills and Brie Merriwether add 15 in the loss. Tanna Aljoe put up 59 assists and Alston Kearns tied with Cremin for the match high with 25 digs.

The first two sets were all Wolfpack with the home team winning 25-17 and 25-18. The Raiders were struggling and hitting just over eight percent at the net and NC State was up at 22 percent. However, the last three sets were a different story with Colgate hitting 29 percent with just 10 errors on 117 attempts.

The third set was a back-and-forth battle until Colgate got a spark from Kate Reilly. The sophomore had two kills during a 6-0 run and the Raiders led 19-13. Reilly finished the day with 10 kills. The lead then ballooned up to 24-16 with two more strikes from Reilly and an ace from Cremin. The Raiders didn't struggle with set point as Reilly did it again and Colgate scored a 25-17 win thanks to Reilly's five kills in the set.

The momentum stayed on the Raiders side early in the fourth set with an early 14-8 advantage after Seely posted two kills and Lindsay Young added one as well. It took a while, but NC State climbed back into the game and tied the set at 20-20 with a kill by Laura Blab.

That was when the intensity started. Colgate had the first crack at set point at 24-23 after a kill by Harris, but the Wolfpack responded with two quick points. Colgate then held off three match points, until the Raiders earned another set point at 28-27. It took three more points to decide the set, but after kills from Reilly and Young, Colgate forced a fifth set with a 30-28 win.

The deciding game was a tight one with neither team holding more than a two-point advantage. The Raiders held that lead late in the game and after NC State tied it at 13-13 with another kill by Glass, Colgate celebrated on the court with Harris scoring a kill and then the match was decided on an NC State attack error. The Raiders won the match at 3-2 with a 15-13 win in the fifth set.

Coglate is back on court at 5 p.m. against another tough opponent in Wisconsin.