HAMILTON – The Raiders avenged an early season loss to Army West Point, sweeping the Knights in three sets on Friday evening (25-11, 25-13, 25-19).
 
Colgate hit a season-best .409 as a team in the match, racking up 47 kills to top the Knights. Raider setters Molly Smith and Lauren Sanderson dished out a combined 36 assists on the night
 
The Raiders got out to an early 8-2 lead in the first set and would not look back, winning the frame 25-11. The 8-2 run to start out the match was assisted by three kills from senior Kathleen Harris and two kills from sophomore Jaelah Hutchison. Army would get within five points at 10-5, but Colgate used a 15-6 run to close out the game. Senior Madison McAndrews boosted the 15-6 stretch with a service run of five straight points. Harris and Taylor Flaherty came up with the huge block to close out the set and give Colgate the 1-0 advantage. Harris paced the Raiders with five kills in the frame.  
 
Colgate hit .438 in the second frame and capitalized on eight Army errors to take the set 25-13. The Raiders found themselves down 6-4 early, but they fought their way out of that deficit with a kill apiece by Hutchison and Harris. Tied at six, Colgate went on a 5-0 run thanks to four attack errors by the Knights. Army would not go away though, fighting its way within five points at 15-10. But that was the closest they would get the rest of the way. Katie Stebbins, Katie Stansbury and Hutchison each contributed two kills in the 10-5 run to close out the set. Harris once again led the Raider offense in the frame, finishing with four kills. Katie Stansbury and Hutchison pitched in three kills apiece in the set to give Colgate the 2-0 lead.
 
The Raiders controlled the momentum going into the third set and did not let up, defeating Army 25-19. Colgate jumped out to an early lead over the Knights, holding the 11-6 advantage thanks to eight Raider kills, two of which came from setter Sanderson. When it looked like Colgate was going to be able to run away with the set, the Knights continued to battle and got their deficit to just three points at 20-17. The Raiders then capitalized on four errors by Army to take a 24-18 lead. A kill by Harris would close out the set and the match, giving the Raiders their first win over Army since the 2013 Patriot League Tournament. Stansbury and Harris each contributed four kills in the frame.
 
Colgate is back in action tomorrow at 4:00 p.m. when the team takes on Holy Cross. Live stats will be available for the match. 
 
Bottom Line
- Colgate 3, Army West Point 0 (25-11, 25-13, 25-19)
 
Won-Lost Record
- Colgate moves to 11-9 on the year and 7-2 in the Patriot League, good for second in the conference.
- Army West Point drops to 15-9 in the 2016 campaign and 7-3 in the conference.  
 
Key Raider Info
- Harris led the way with 13 kills and eight digs. The senior also registered one solo block and two block assists.
- Stansbury finished the night with 10 digs and nine kills.
- Hutchison recorded eight kills and two blocks.
- Sanderson dished out 16 assists and Molly Smith recorded 15 of her own in the match to go along with 11 digs.
- McAndrews logged a team-high 13 digs to pace the defense.
- Flaherty was a force at the net, recording one solo block and four block assists.
 
Inside the Box Score
- The Raiders defeated Army for the first time since the 2013 Patriot League Tournament.
- The team hit a season-best .409 and recorded 47 kills in the match.
- Colgate came up huge at the net, logging nine blocks to Army's four.
- The squad collected 54 digs, while Army only registered 33 on the night.
 
From the Source Head Coach Ryan Baker
- "That was a great team win against a very good Army team. Anytime Colgate and Army play one another, you can expect an exciting brand of volleyball."
 
- "Our serve and pass game were exceptionally strong tonight. Army really tried disrupting our flow with short serves and it worked, but we found a way to work around that."
 
- "Lauren and Molly set a great match. Their choices and location were spot on the entire evening as evidenced in our hitting statistics."  
 
- "We don't have time to celebrate as Holy Cross will be here shortly and they are getting better each night."  
 
Up Next
- The Raiders are back to Cotterell Court tomorrow to face Holy Cross at 4:00 p.m.
- Colgate defeated Holy Cross, 3-0, back on Sept. 23.
- Live stats will be available for the match. 
- Find all the information on both Colgate and Holy Cross at Game Central.