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HAMILTON – The Colgate volleyball team won the first two sets of Thursday night's NIVC First Round game, but Towson staged a furious comeback to win the final three stanzas and hand the Raiders a 3-2 season-ending loss.
 
Towson (27-5) advances to Friday's second round to take on Syracuse at 7 p.m. at Cotterell Court. Colgate's season comes to a close at 18-11.
 
ECAC and Patriot League Rookie of the Year Alli Lowe wrapped up her remarkable rookie campaign with a career-high performance as the outside hitter smacked 25 kills. Junior Katie Stansbury and senior Lauren Sanderson tallied double-doubles in the five-set battle.
 
The Raiders got out to an early 7-4 lead in the first set before Towson pulled within one at 10-9. Two kills from Lowe and two Raider blocks helped Colgate string together a 6-3 run to stretch the Raider lead to 16-12. The Tigers narrowed the gap to two at 18-16, but a 5-1 Colgate streak gave the Raiders the cushion they would need to secure the 25-18 set-one win.
 
Colgate carried its momentum into the second set as kills from three different Raiders helped Colgate to a quick 6-0 lead. The Raiders continued to roll, stretching their advantage to as much as 10 at 17-7 following a block from Stansbury and junior Jaelah Hutchison. The Tigers wouldn't get closer than seven the rest of the way before a spike from sophomore Jessica Lathan put away the 25-15 set-two victory.
 
Towson came out stronger in the third set as the Tigers jumped out to a 14-10 lead. Back-to-back kills from sophomore Taylor Flaherty helped slice the Towson lead to 14-13, but the Tigers answered with a 3-0 streak of their own to go back ahead by four at 17-13. Towson didn't let the Raiders get closer than three the rest of the way as the Tigers got on the board with a 25-19 set-three win.
 
Four kills from Lowe sparked Colgate to a quick 5-2 lead in the fourth set, but Towson responded with a 16-7 streak that put the Tigers in front 18-12.   The Raiders got within three points twice at 20-17 and 24-21, but Towson put away the set with a kill from Olivia Finkel to force a fifth and decisive stanza.
 
A block and kill from Stansbury put Colgate ahead 4-2 early in the fifth and decisive set, but Towson scored seven of the game's next 10 points to put the Raiders in a 9-5 hole. A pair of sneaky kills from sophomore Hannah Cannon ignited a 4-2 Colgate run that pulled the Raiders all the way back within one at 11-10, but the Tigers scored four of the set's final points to secure the 15-11 set-five win and 3-2 match victory.
 
BOTTOM LINE

• Towson 3, Colgate 2 (25-18, 25-15, 19-25, 21-25, 11-15)

 
WON-LOST RECORDS

• Towson improves to 27-5 on the season and advances to Friday's second round match against Syracuse.
• Colgate's season comes to a close at 18-11.

 
KEY RAIDER INFO

• Lowe's career-high 25 kills were accompanied by a .283 hitting percentage.
• Sanderson tallied her 11th double-double of the season with 51 assists and 10 digs.
• Stansbury registered her 12th double-double thanks to 21 digs and 12 kills.
• First-year Bridget Kolsky led the team with 25 kills.

 
FACTS & FIGURES

• Colgate finished the match with a .193 hitting percentage. The Raiders hit a game-high .343 in the first set, and followed with a .312 clip in the second set.
• Towson finished with a .145 attack percentage. The Tigers out-hit the Raiders in each of the final three sets.
• The Tigers finished the match with a 12-10 team block advantage.