HAMILTON – The Colgate volleyball program set career-high numbers on Saturday evening as they hosted Navy in Patriot League play. After honoring the program's four seniors on Senior Day, Colgate fell in a hard fought five-set final before a rowdy crowd on Cotterell Court. Although the Raiders, who sit third in the Patriot League standings, forced a fifth set, it took extra point play before No. 2 Navy sealed the 3-2 win.
HOW IT HAPPENED – 3-2 LOSS TO NAVY
The Midshipmen got off to a quick start, as the Raiders used their first timeout early trailing 6-2. Although Colgate's offense pushed back midway through the set as sophomore
Alli Lowe notched three of the Raiders four points in a five-point span, Navy powered ahead to claim the opening set without sacrificing any tie scores.
Colgate made a statement in the second set as they started with fast play that pushed Navy to call a timeout after senior
Jaelah Hutchison's kill increased the Raiders lead to 6-3. Colgate didn't let up throughout the entirety of the set, as another 4-0 scoring run built an 11-5 lead, and another 7-1 run capped by a
Taylor Flaherty kill proved powerful as Colgate led 22-8. Although Navy battled back with a pair of points at set point, Colgate's 25-11 victory tied the match at 1-1.
In a game that saw the most back-and-forth action up to that point in the match, the third set featured three tie scores and one lead change. Colgate called an early timeout as Navy held a 10-8 lead, and a speckling of errors by the Raiders helped build a narrow Navy lead again at 15-12. The Midshipmen surpassed Colgate midway through to earn a 2-1 lead in the match with an eventual 25-15 win.
Going point-for-point with long rallies and hard-fought points, Colgate's must-win fourth set was peppered with scoring runs. The Raiders went on a four-point run for a 17-13 lead with a block by the freshman duo of
Hailey Horn-Bostel and
Julia Kurowski at the net. It was later with junior
Alex Stein's third service ace of the match that pushed navy to call its second timeout trailing 22-15, but Colgate persisted to force the fifth game with a 25-17 win.
Although the pair of conference foes battled through nine tie scores in an extensive fourth set, they continued the fight through 12 ties and four lead changes in the fifth set. While the game went back-and-forth through the first half, Colgate gained the largest lead of the fifth set with a 10-8 score. Navy continued to match Colgate's points, and ultimately tied the game at 14s to force extra point play. Navy's momentum pushed them forward to take the match when they were able to decide the fifth by an 18-16 margin.
STATISTICAL STANDOUTS
• Senior
Katie Stansbury posted a career-high 24 dig performance, surpassing her previous two-time career-high of 23. It marks Stansbury's third match of the season with 20+ digs.
• At the net, fellow senior
Amanda Smith marked a career-high of 17 kills, shattering her previous best of 14 against Lehigh (Oct. 12). While leading the team with her career kills, Smith also marked a team-high hitting percentage of .444.
• Also registering a career-best number was junior
Hannah Cannon, as she tallied 12 digs on the Colgate's defense. Her previous career-high was a 10 dig performance against Bucknell (Oct. 26).
• On both sides of the ball, freshman
Julia Kurowski recorded her team-leading ninth double-double of the season by 47 assists and 13 digs. It marks her second consecutive double-double, and third in the last four matches, while she also posted a pair of aces at the back line.
• By striking three of the Raiders seven service aces on the night, junior
Alex Stein tallied her fifth multi-ace match of the season.
• Also at the back line, freshman
Ashley Chow posted a pair of aces for her second multi-ace match of the year, and first since the Patriot League opener at Holy Cross (Sept. 21).
• Colgate held Navy to a negative hitting percentage at -.059 in the second set, and swung for a match-high of .296 in the extended fifth set.
• With its win, Navy clinched a berth into the Patriot League Tournament, while Colgate narrowly trails in third for the four-team tournament.
THE BOTTOM LINE
• Navy 3, Colgate 2 (25-19, 11-25, 25-15, 17-25, 18-16)
RECORD UPDATES
• Colgate falls to 13-13 overall, and 8-6 in Patriot League play.
• Navy improves to 19-8 on the season, and 11-3 in conference action.
UP NEXT
The Raiders conclude the regular season next weekend, as they travel to Lehigh on Friday, Nov. 9, and compete in the final match of the regular season at home on Sunday, Nov. 11 against Loyola.
FOLLOW THE RAIDERS
For more information on the Colgate volleyball program, follow the Raiders on Twitter @ColgateVB and on Instagram at Colgate_VB.
