ANNAPOLIS, Md. – The Colgate volleyball team trailed 2-1, but rallied to win the final two sets for a big 3-2 win at second-place Navy Saturday afternoon. Colgate has now won three-straight league games and five of its last six.
First-year
Alli Lowe led the Raiders with 21 kills. Junior
Katie Stansbury followed with 17 kills to go along with 19 digs for yet another double-double. Sophomore
Taylor Flaherty chipped in a career-high 16 kills and a blistering .583 hitting percentage. Senior
Lauren Sanderson also registered a double-double with a career-high 58 assists and 13 digs.
The Mids got out to a quick 9-1 lead in the opening set. Colgate was able to claw all the way back within three at 21-18 following a kill from Stansbury, but Navy scored the final four points of the term to take the opening set 25-18.
The second set was much closer as the back-and-forth affair saw several lead changes before the Raiders held set point at 24-22. Navy battled back with the next three points as the Mids threatened to take a 2-0 match lead, but kills from Flaherty and Stansbury helped the Raiders tie the score at 25 and 26. Navy pulled ahead 27-26, but two Mids errors and a kill from senior
Lauren Sanderson allowed the Raiders to put the set away, 29-27, and tie the match at 1-1.
The Raiders held an early 6-2 lead in the third set before Navy put five-straight points on the board to pull ahead 7-6. The score was then tied 12 times before the Raiders held a one-point lead at 22-21, but the Mids scored the final four points of the stanza to take a 2-1 match advantage with a 25-22 set-three win.
The fourth set was tied at 5-5 early on before a Sanderson service ace capped off a 10-5 Raider run that put Colgate ahead 15-10. The Raiders led by as much as six at 19-13, but Navy battled back to trim the advantage to 19-17 with a 4-0 run. A kill from Stansbury sparked a 3-0 Raider streak that gave Colgate the separation it would need to hold on for the 25-20 set-four win that evened the match at 2-2.
The fifth set began in a 3-3 draw before kills before kills from Lowe, Flaherty and junior
Jaelah Hutchison gave Colgate a 7-3 edge. Navy battled back within one at 9-8, but the Raiders scored six of the term's final eight points to claim the 15-10 win and 3-2 match victory.
BOTTOM LINE
- Colgate 3, Navy 2 (18-25, 29-27, 22-25, 25-20, 15-10)
WON-LOST RECORDS
- The Raiders improve to 14-9 on the season and 5-6 in the Patriot League.
- Navy falls to 19-6 overall and 9-3 in league action.
KEY RAIDER INFO
- Lowe notched her fourth 20-plus kill match of the season with her 21 spikes.
- Stansbury registered her ninth double-double of the season, while Sanderson tallied her tenth.
- Flaherty's 16 kills were a career high.
- Hutchison was the fourth Raider with double-digit kills as she chipped in 11.
- First-year Bridget Kolsky led the squad with 24 kills.
FACTS & FIGURES
- Colgate hit .254 as a team and held Navy to a clip of .196.
- The Raiders held a 72-60 advantage in kills and 79-66 edge in digs.
- Colgate hit .368 as team in the fifth and decisive set.
FROM THE SOURCE
Head Coach
Ryan Baker
- "I'm so proud of the fight we showed in what was a boxing match. Both teams showed up and battled."
- "Lauren did a great job getting the ball in the hitter's wheelhouse. Alli, Stanny and Taylor put up huge numbers which is what we needed. It was a total team win!"
UP NEXT
- Colgate continues its weekend road trip with a Sunday match at Loyola.
- First serve from Baltimore is set for 2 p.m.
