WASHINGTON, D.C. – The No. 4 seeded Colgate volleyball program battled through a back-and-forth match against No. 1 seeded American on Saturday evening, but ultimately fell to the host school a 3-2 final in the Patriot League Semifinals. The Raiders season comes to a close with a 14-15 overall record, and a 9-7 mark in Patriot League play.
HOW IT HAPPENED – 3-2 LOSS AT AMERICAN
Although the Raiders had a strong start by claiming the opening point with an
Alli Lowe kill, a 10-point run by American proved detrimental as Colgate quickly utilized their second timeout trailing 15-5. The Eagles soared ahead to gain a 1-0 lead in the Patriot League Semifinals by a 25-11 final in the opening set.
The second set only featured a one or two point span through the first 10 points of the game, before American's long rally wins lifted them to a 14-10 lead. Colgate's determined offense battled back to tie the game at 18s by a 5-1 run, before the Raiders saw its first lead of the match at 19-18.
Hannah Cannon struck her first service ace of the season to increase Colgate's lead to 20-18, pushing American to call its final timeout. A big dig by freshman
Julia Kurowski then fueled
Alex Stein's kill off the block for set point, before the Raiders tied the match with a 25-23 victory.
The win ignited a momentum the Colgate squad thrived on, as they went on a four-point run for a 6-4 lead early in the third set. After striking only once ace through the first two sets, the Raiders lined up for six in the third set alone. Back-to-back aces by Stein increased Colgate's lead to an 11-8 mark, and the energy didn't let up as the Raiders both on the bench and in the stands were on their feet. After reaching set point three times, Colgate was able to earn a 2-1 lead in a decisive 25-14 final.
In following up the third set, the pair of conference foes went point-for-point through the start of the fourth, and Colgate was able to inch ahead to a 10-7 lead with a firm kill by senior
Jaelah Hutchison. A turning point came when an extensive review resulted in a point reversal in favor of the Eagles, and they went on a 4-1 run to tie the game at 11-1. It was after the successful reversal that the momentum shifted and American pulled away to force a fifth set with a 25-17 win.
Although Colgate had the quick start to gain an early 3-0 lead, American inched back to tie the set at 7s in the fifth set. As the teams switched sides, American reclaimed the lead at a narrow 8-7 marker, before they were able to advance to Sunday's Patriot League Championship with a 15-9 fifth set final.
STATISTICAL STANDOUTS
• By scoring three of Colgate's seven service aces, junior
Alex Stein earned her eighth multi-ace match of the season. In addition to her play at the back line, Stein recorded 18 kills and eight digs on the night, while the 18 kills are just one shy of her season high against Bucknell (Sept. 1).
• Colgate's offense was led by sophomore
Alli Lowe, as she spiked a team-high of 19 kills while hitting .240. The 19 kills are her second-best on the season, behind a 21-kill performance against Liberty (Sept. 8).
• Freshman
Julia Kurowski registered her team-leading 11th double-double on the season with 44 assists and 10 digs. In addition to her double-digit numbers, Kurowski marked two of the Raiders seven service aces and four critical kills.
• With her 14 digs on the night, senior
Katie Stansbury completes her Colgate career ranked 10th in program history with 1,045 digs.
• Junior
Taylor Flaherty led the team with four total blocks by one solo block and three block assists, helping the Raiders record 8.0 total team blocks. Flaherty's four blocks are now a four-time season-high number for the Austin, Texas native.
• Colgate's powerful third-set win was earned with its highest attack percentage of the match at a team .483.
• The pair of conference foes battled through a total of 21 tie scores and 10 lead changes over the course of the five sets, including a match-high of seven ties and four lead changes in the fourth set.
THE BOTTOM LINE
• American 3, Colgate 2 (25-11, 23-25, 14-25, 25-17, 15-9)
RECORD UPDATES
• Colgate completes the 2018 season with a 14-15 overall record, as well as a 9-7 mark in Patriot League play.
• American improves to 20-12 on the season, and held a 14-3 record in conference action.
COACH BAKER'S TAKE
"This match summed up our season. We battled from start to finish and my pride runs deep."
"In my all years of playing American in the tournament, this may have been our best showing at American. We left it all out there and American's talent pool is very large. I can't thank our seniors enough for pouring their hearts into our program and representing Colgate with class."
FOLLOW THE RAIDERS
For more information on the Colgate volleyball program, follow the Raiders on Twitter @ColgateVB and on Instagram at Colgate_VB.
