HAMILTON – The Colgate volleyball team battled for a big 3-0 sweep of Lehigh in Patriot League action Saturday afternoon at Cotterell Court. The victory capped off a 2-0 weekend for the Raiders as Colgate has now won four of its last five games.
First-year
Alli Lowe led the Raiders with 17 kills, 11 of which came in Colgate's 26-24 set-three win to close out the match. Junior
Katie Stansbury and sophomore
Taylor Flaherty followed with 10 kills apiece.
The Raiders used an 8-1 run to turn a 5-2 deficit into a 10-6 advantage early on in the first set. The Mountain Hawks pulled back within one at 11-10, but the Raiders embarked on another lengthy streak as Colgate put down seven of the next nine points to surge ahead 18-12 and force a Lehigh timeout. The Raiders didn't allow the Mountain Hawks to get closer than three the rest of the way as Colgate claimed the first set 25-18.
Lehigh rebounded to take a quick 12-5 lead in the second set. Colgate clawed back with a gutsy 10-3 streak to knot the score at 15 all. The Raiders continued to roll from there as kills from Stansbury and Flaherty helped Colgate surge ahead 20-16. The Mountain Hawks wouldn't get closer than three for the rest of the term as a Stansbury kill cemented the 25-21 set-two win and 2-0 match advantage.
The Mountain Hawks surged out to a 14-9 lead in the third stanza. Lehigh stayed ahead until three-straight kills from Lowe knotted the score at 20-20. The score was tied at every point from 21 to 24, but a pair of Lehigh errors ended the set and match as Colgate secured the 26-24 win and 3-0 match victory.
BOTTOM LINE
- Colgate 3, Lehigh 0 (25-18, 25-21, 26-24)
WON-LOST RECORDS
- Colgate improves to 13-9 on the season and 4-6 in the Patriot League.
- The Mountain Hawks fall to 15-9 overall and 6-4 in league action.
- The teams split the regular-season series as Lehigh claimed a 3-0 win in the season's first meeting and Colgate claimed the 3-0 win this time around.
KEY RAIDER INFO
- Lowe's 17 kills were accompanied by a .364 hitting percentage.
- Flaherty hit .381 with 10 kills and added three blocks and four digs.
- First-year Bridget Kolsky led the team with 17 kills.
- Senior Lauren Sanderson dished a match-high 38 assists.
FACTS & FIGURES
- Colgate hit .236 as a team, while limiting Lehigh to a .188 clip.
- The Raiders hit a match-high .303 in the opening set.
- Lehigh held a 9-3 team block advantage, but the Mountain Hawks were hindered by 21 attack errors and eight service errors.
FROM THE SOURCE
Head Coach
Ryan Baker
- "The team showed a lot of fight tonight coming back from behind in sets two and three. I am proud of the girls for staying mentally tough in tight situations. You have to give credit to Lehigh for their depth, they have many weapons but I thought once we made the decision to win there was no stopping us."
UP NEXT
- Colgate hits the road next weekend for a pair of matches at Navy and Loyola.
- The Raiders take on the Mids at 4 p.m. Saturday before facing the Greyhounds at 2 p.m. Sunday.
