Washington D.C. – The No. 2 seeded Raiders defeated No. 3 seed Army West Point 3-1 in the semifinals of the Patriot League Tournament on Saturday afternoon.
 
The Raiders took the first set after an all-team effort led them to a 25-20 victory over the Black Knights. Colgate found itself down early in the set at 7-6, but sophomore Katie Stansbury recorded three kills over the next five points to help the Raiders stay in the set. Kathleen Harris and Taylor Flaherty came up with a huge block at the net to pull within one and Harris recorded a big kill in the next point to tie the game at 12. Colgate grabbed its first lead of the set since 3-2 when Stebbins registered her first kill of the game at 13-12. After another Harris kill, Army called its first timeout of the set, down 14-12.
 
Out of the timeout, Colgate was able to continue a run, pushing its lead to 19-16 after capitalizing on three Army errors. With Army closing in at 20-18, Jaelah Hutchison and Lauren Sanderson came up with a huge block at the net to widen the gap.
 
After leading 22-20 in the first set, Ryan Baker decided to take a timeout to calm down the team and they came out on a 3-0 run to close out the set. Colgate closed out the frame with a fantastic defensive play by Harris, Flaherty and Molly Smith. That play allowed the point to continued and set up a kill by Stansbury to take a 1-0 set lead. Stansbury led the set with five kills.  
 
The Raiders controlled the second set from the start and ended up defeating the Black Knights 25-11 in the frame. Colgate went on a 3-0 run to gain an 8-4 advantage over Army thanks to a kill apiece from Harris and Stebbins. The Raiders continued to push, leading 9-5 after a Stebbins kill, and from that point on the team would use a 16-5 run to close out the set.
 
Sophomore Peighton McRobie helped to keep the 16-5 run alive with a great dig that set up a Hutchison block at the net. Colgate used eight kills on the run to finish out the frame and took advantage of five Army errors to hold complete control of the set.
 
The third set looked far more similar to the first than the second, with it being a back-and-forth battle until the end, but Army was able to take this set from the Colgate 25-23. Harris and Stebbins recorded three and two kills, respectively, to keep Colgate ahead in the set at 18-17. Madison McAndrews came up with multiple digs in the set to keep the Colgate ahead. The Raiders held their largest lead of the set at 20-17, thanks to two consecutive Army errors.
 
The Black Knights fought their way back into the set, taking their first lead of the set at 22-21. Colgate tied the frame at 22 after a Stebbins kill, but Army recorded a side-out to take a 24-22 lead. Stansbury helped keep the frame alive with a kill of her own, but Army answered back with a kill to close out the set, 25-23.
 
The fourth set was a battle until the end, with the frame consisting of ten ties and three lead changes. Colgate had an early lead over the Black Knights, holding onto a 16-12 advantage thanks in part to five kills by Hutchison.
 
The Raiders seemed to be sitting pretty with a 17-13 lead, but a tenacious Army offense fought back to tie the game at 22 apiece. Flaherty came up with a huge kill to give Colgate the lead at 23-22 and Stebbins and Hutchison followed with a block to give the Raiders a 24-22 lead.
 
Army would not go quietly though, tying the set at 24 before Stansbury and Harris came through with two kills to close out the frame, 26-24.
 
The Raiders are back in action tomorrow at 1 p.m. when they play in the Patriot League Championship against No. 1 seeded American.
 
Bottom Line
- Colgate 3, Army 1 (25-20, 25-11, 23-25, 26-24)
 
Won-Lost Records
- Colgate improves to 18-10 in the 2016 season.
- Army West Point drops to 20-11 to finish out its 2016 campaign.
 
Key Raider Info
- Harris led the Raiders offensively, finishing the afternoon with 16 kills. The senior also recorded her 12th double-double of the year, finishing with 18 digs in the match.
- Stansbury, Hutchison, and Stebbins each pitched in 11 kills of their own. Stansbury finished with 10 digs and Hutchison recorded seven blocks in the match.
- Molly Smith and Sanderson each dished out 24 assists. Smith also logged 13 digs.
- McAndrews lead the defense with 20 digs in the match and McRobie registered 13 of her own.
 
Inside the Box Score
- Colgate racked up 55 kills as a team, hitting .273 in the match while Army registered 59 kills on a .183 hit clip.
- The team logged 81 digs and 12 blocks against the Knights.
- The Raiders have defeated Army West Point the last six times they have faced them in the Patriot League semifinals.
 
From the Source: Head Coach Ryan Baker
- "I'm extremely proud of us, Army is a great team. When you play one of the academies, you know they are going to put up a fight, and that's what they did."
- "Our team did a wonderful job responding in that match, especially with our defensive intensity. McAndrews was all over the floor defensively for us and she dug everything to target."
- "Peighton picked it up and set four; that was a game-changer for us. It was just an overall great team effort."
- "Our setting was great, our passing was great and our hitters did a great job. We face a tough team in American tomorrow, but we are going to enjoy this tonight and head into tomorrow strong."
 
Up Next
- The Raiders face No. 1 seed American tomorrow at 1 p.m. for the Patriot League Championship.
- Live stats and video will be available for the match.