HAMILTON – The Colgate volleyball team rallied to take a 2-1 lead over four-time defending Patriot League Champion American, but the Eagles claimed the final two sets to hand the Raiders a tough 3-2 loss Saturday afternoon at Cotterell Court.
First-year
Alli Lowe tallied a career-high 24 kills to lead the Raiders offensively. Senior
Lauren Sanderson registered career-best marks in assists and digs as she and junior
Katie Stansbury notched double-doubles.
The Eagles raced out to a quick 6-1 lead in the opening set to force an early Colgate timeout. The Raiders scored the next four points out of the break and eventually tied the score at 10-10 following a kill from sophomore
Jessica Lathan. The score was knotted again at four times over the next few points until American broke a 19-19 draw with a 6-1 streak to take the opening set 25-20.
A back-and-forth second set saw 13 tie scores until two kills from Lowe helped comprise a 5-0 Raider run that allowed Colgate to turn an 18-16 deficit into a 21-18 lead. The Eagles responded with a 5-1 streak to jump back in front at 23-22 before an American service error had the score knotted again at 23. It was tied at 24 and 25 before the Eagles were in front 26-25. Lowe smacked two big kills and senior
Claudia Pena added a service ace as Colgate scored the final three points of the term to even the match at 1-1 with the 28-26 set-two win.
Colgate carried its momentum into the third set as the Raiders stormed out to a 6-2 lead to force an early American timeout. The Eagles narrowed the gap to two at 9-7 before two kills from sophomore
Alex Stein helped make up a 5-0 Raider streak to push the Colgate lead to 14-7. Colgate never let up as the Raiders stretched their lead to as much as 10 and another Lowe spike capped off the 25-15 set-three win.
American turned the tide in the fourth set as the Eagles quickly jumped out to a 13-3 lead. The Raiders answered with an 11-4 streak to trim the American advantage all the way down to 17-14. The Eagles controlled the remainder of the set, however, to force a decisive fifth term with a 25-16 victory.
The fifth set was tied at every point until American broke a 6-6 tie with two-straight points to pull ahead 8-6. The Raiders were back within one at 9-8, but the Eagles scored six of the term's final seven points to take the fifth set 15-9 and earn the 3-2 victory.
BOTTOM LINE
- American 3, Colgate 2 (20-25, 28-26, 25-15, 16-25, 9-15)
WON-LOST RECORDS
- The Raiders see their two-match win streak come to an end as Colgate falls to 11-9 on the season and 2-6 in Patriot League play.
- American improves to 16-7 on the season and 7-1 in league action.
KEY RAIDER INFO
- Lowe's career-best 24 kills were accompanied by a .304 hitting percentage.
- Stansbury and Sanderson both recorded double-doubles for the second-straight night.
- Stansbury finished with 11 kills and 16 digs.
- Sanderson tallied career-high marks of 56 assists and 17 digs.
- First-year Bridget Kolsky finished with a team-high 18 digs.
- Pena led the squad with five total blocks and added five kills.
FACTS & FIGURES
- Colgate hit .187 as a team for the match, highlighted by a .429 clip in the 25-15 set-three win.
- American finished the match with a .222 hitting percentage. The Eagles hit .727 in the fifth set to clinch the win.
- American held an 11-9 team block edge.
- Colgate finished with a 61-58 kills advantage.
- The Raiders were hindered by 12 service errors.
UP NEXT
- The Raiders remain home next weekend to kick off the second half of Patriot League play.
- Colgate hosts Bucknell Friday at 7 p.m. before taking on Lehigh Saturday at 4 p.m. at Cotterell Court.
