YPSILANTI, Michigan – The Colgate volleyball team won the third set against the SEC's Auburn Tigers Saturday afternoon but fell in the four-set match, 3-1, at the Convocation Center on the campus of Eastern Michigan University. The Raiders and Tigers met as part of the Michigan Challenge hosted by both Eastern Michigan and Michigan.
 
Colgate's third set win came by a two-point margin, 26-24, after Auburn had taken a 2-0 lead into halftime. Auburn took the first two sets, 28-26 and 25-21, before finishing the match with a 25-21 win in the fourth set.
 
Early in the first set, Colgate took a 3-2 lead before Auburn rattled off five straight points to take a 6-3 lead. Head coach Ryan Baker called a timeout that paid off, as Colgate recorded eight of the next 10 points to stake out an 11-8 lead over Auburn, including back-to-back service aces by Madison McAndrews (Los Angeles, California). The Raiders led 22-19 before four straight points by the Tigers made it 23-22 followed by two points by Colgate to make it 24-23 as Jaelah Hutchison (San Francisco, California) and Molly Smith (Austin, Texas) blocked an attack. Auburn got the next point before Colgate led 26-25 but Auburn rattled off three straight points to take the set.
 
The Tigers controlled most of the play in the second set as they led 8-1 early. Colgate battled back to 14-11 after two kills by Katie Stebbins (Plano, Texas) and another one by Kathleen Harris (Playa Del Rey, California). With a 15-14 lead, Auburn rattled off six straight points to make it 21-14. The Raiders closed the gap to within 22-20 thanks to two Harris kills, a kill by Smith and a block by Hutchison and Smith.
 
Coming out of halftime it was all Colgate as they jumped out to a 9-3 lead. Katie Stansbury (Strongsville, Ohio) picked up two kills while Hutchison and Harris each had one early. The Raiders stretched their lead out to 13-6 before the Tigers started to cut into the Raiders lead. Harris and Taylor Flaherty (Austin, Texas) picked up two kills each to bring it to 21-16 before Auburn picked up eight of the next 11 points to tie the match, 24-24. Harris picked up a kill from Smith to make it 25 before Auburn had an attack error to end the set and give the Raiders the set win.
 
In the fourth set, both teams traded points to start before three straight points gave Auburn a 10-6 lead and Colgate called a timeout. Both teams continued to exchange points coming out of the timeout before the Raiders took four straight points to pull within 21-19. Harris had a kill and a service ace while Hutchison picked up a kill. Auburn closed out the match with four of the final six points to win the set, 25-21.  
 
Bottom Line
- Auburn 3, Colgate 1 (28-26, 25-21, 24-26, 25-21).
 
Won-Lost Records
- Colgate drops to 3-6 on the season.
- Auburn improves to 6-6 with the win.
 
Key Raider Info 
- Molly Smith recorded her third double-double of the season with 44 assists and 11 digs. Fifth time in nine matches she recorded 40 or more assists.
- Kathleen Harris had a team-best 16 kills, her third time with 16 kills in a match this season. Also recorded 12 digs for her sixth double-double of the season.
- Jaelah Hutchison tied her season-high with 10 kills against Auburn, also recorded one solo block and five assisted blocks.
- Madison McAndrews led Colgate with 17 digs and two service aces, good for her most aces in a match this season
 
Inside the Box Score
- The Raiders hit .209 as a team, while the Tigers hit .256 in the match. Auburn also held the advantage in kills, 67-53
- Both teams had four service aces while Colgate led the match with eight blocks compared to Auburn's seven.
 
From the Source
Head Coach Ryan Baker
"I'm extremely proud of how we played today. We battled an SEC team point for point. While its tough to lose, it is obvious that we are in every match against strong competition. We have to figure out how to finish which is on me and our seniors."
 
"We got a great performance for Jaelah [Hutchison]. Kat [Harris] really picked it up after a slow start. With this kind of effort, the wins will come."
 
Up Next 
- Colgate travels to Ann Arbor, Michigan tonight to take on Michigan in a primetime matchup at 7:00 p.m.
- Colgate plays host Eastern Michigan in Ypsilanti, Mich. at 1:00 p.m. on Sunday to close out the weekend.
- Find all of the information on how to follow the games at Game Central.