HAMILTON – After claiming the first two sets, the Colgate volleyball program found itself in a five-set battle against Patriot League foe Lehigh on Friday evening.
The Raiders battled back in a fifth set to claim the match in a narrow 15-13 final to serve up the Mountain Hawks just their fourth loss of the season. In the five-setter, both
Alex Stein and
Julia Kurowski posted their sixth and fifth double-doubles of the season, respectively, while numerous career markers were tallied by the Raiders as a whole.
HOW IT HAPPENED – 3-2 WIN OVER LEHIGH
The Raiders offense didn't sacrifice any lead changes through the opening game against the Mountain Hawks on their way to a dominant 25-13 win closed out by a three-point scoring run. The Colgate momentum carried over to the second set, which opened with back-to-back Stein kills, and featured just a single tie score to the Raiders eventual 25-20 victory leading to a 2-0 lead.
Lehigh claimed its first advantage of the match when they hit a six-point scoring run midway through the second set. The game was briefly back-and-forth when Stein tied the game with her double-double tallying kill at 12-12, although Lehigh came back with a pair of set wins to force a fifth.
After having the two-set lead early in the match, it came down to a decisive fifth game for the Colgate squad. A critical match in Patriot League standings, the Raiders held a narrow 8-7 lead as the teams switched sides, and continued to battle through a total of 11 tie scores and six lead changes before overcoming a two-point deficit and claiming the match with
Alli Lowe's team-leading 19th kill of the match.
STATISTICAL STANDOUTS
• By 52 assists and 10 digs, freshman
Julia Kurowski tallied her fifth double-double of the season. The 52 assists marks a career-high number for the Lancaster, New York native.
• For her team-leading sixth double-double of the season, junior
Alex Stein posted 13 kills paired with a career-high 21 digs against the Mountain Hawks. The East Setauket, New York native also earned a pair of blocks on the night.
• Senior
Katie Stansbury also tallied a career-best marker when she matched her 23 career-high digs. It marks the most digs for Stansbury since Sept. 15, 2017 against Stony Brook. On the Raiders five service aces against Lehigh, Stansbury also led the team with two for her first multi-ace match since the Raiders season opener against Rutgers (Aug. 24).
• For the second time this season, senior
Amanda Smith also tied her career-high kills with 14, which she marked earlier this fall against Bryant (Sept. 15).
• With 10 kills,
Taylor Flaherty marked her second double-digit kill performance of the season, in addition to earning a pair of blocks of the Lehigh offense.
• The pair of conference foes battled through a match-high of 11 tie scores in the narrow fifth set. The Raiders didn't sacrifice a lead change through the first two games, on their way to their second consecutive win over the Mountain Hawks.
THE BOTTOM LINE
• Colgate 3, Lehigh 2 (25-13, 25-20, 20-25, 17-25, 15-13)
RECORD UPDATES
• Colgate improves to 9-10 on the season, and holds a 4-3 record in Patriot League play.
• Lehigh now holds a 16-4 record overall, and drops to 5-3 in the Patriot League.
COACH BAKER'S TAKE
"I am extremely proud of our fight tonight. Lehigh is definitely one of the teams to beat this season and we found a way to win. It was a team effort."
"It's important in this league to win at home because road wins are tough to come by. Allie Lowe and
Amanda Smith really stepped up in the fifth set from an offensive standpoint, and
Alex Stein made some big defensive plays."
UP NEXT
The Raiders continue Patriot League action on Sunday when they travel to Baltimore, Maryland to face Loyola in a 2 p.m. matinee matchup.
FOLLOW THE RAIDERS
For more information on the Colgate volleyball program, follow the Raiders on Twitter @ColgateVB and on Instagram at Colgate_VB.
