HAMILTON – The Colgate volleyball program welcomed Northwestern to Cotterell Court on Friday evening in the home opener and first Raider match of the Ellis Rowland Memorial Tournament. Colgate's first of three matches in the tournament was a narrow battle against the Wildcats, where the Raiders tallied nine service aces, including a career-high of four from junior Alex Stein.

The four-team, six-match tournament honors the late Ellis Rowland, an avid supporter of the program and founder of the Colgate Volleyball Senior Rowdy Raiders. To read more about Ellis' contributions and involvement with the program click HERE.
 
HOW IT HAPPENED
The opening set was all about aces as Colgate tallied four through the first game. After starting out with a Stein ace on the opening point, the game also featured back-to-back aces by Julia Kurowski to narrow Northwestern's lead to 7-5 early in. In the narrow game, a 3-0 scoring run put Colgate within one point at 17-16 Northwestern, and the Raider momentum continued to push the Wildcats to call a timeout in the first tied up at 20s, before Northwestern claimed the game 25-21.

After a slow start to the second set, Stein's second ace of the match put Colgate up 12-10 in the game forcing Northwestern to use a timeout, although the Wildcats inched back by slowly gaining points to take the second set late in the game.

In the must-win third set, Stein's third ace of the match narrowed Northwestern's lead 7-5, and back-to-back aces by the East Setauket, New York native put the Raiders on a 3-0 scoring run for a career-high of four service aces. In a back-and-forth game, the Raider momentum continued to build and another 3-0 scoring run led to a Northwestern timeout as Colgate narrowed the Wildcats lead to 15-12 in the must-win third set. Through the end of the set, the Raiders responded with point streaks, including a 3-0 scoring run at 23-17 Northwestern, and the battle continued through a big block by freshmen Julia Kurowski and Hailey Horn-Bostel at match point, before Northwestern sealed the match in a 25-18 final.
 
STATISTICAL STANDOUTS
• Junior Alex Stein's team-leading and career-high four ace performance is the most service aces in a single match since she tallied three versus Albany on Sept. 2, 2017.
• With three of the Raiders nine service aces, freshman Julia Kurowski also had a career-high night as she tallied three against the Big Ten opponent.
• Colgate was led offensively by senior Jaelah Hutchison as she registered a team-high of nine kills while hitting .500 on the night. The San Francisco, Calif. native also marked two of the Raiders 8.0 blocks.
• With nine total team aces, it marks the most by the Colgate squad since nine versus Holy Cross on Nov. 4, 2017.
  
THE BOTTOM LINE
• Northwestern 3, Colgate 0 (25-21, 25-22, 25-18)
 
RECORD UPDATES
• Colgate now holds a 2-2 record on the year.
• Northwestern improves to 4-1 on the season.
 
COACH BAKER'S TAKE
"We are obviously disappointed with the result, but give Northwestern credit.  They were hungrier and played with a renewed intensity."
 
"Our lack of execution was very frustrating.  We are a better team than we displayed today.  We need to move on quickly and compete harder.  I have faith in these seniors to do just that."
 
UP NEXT
The Raiders host Princeton and Stephen F. Austin tomorrow, Sept. 1 in the final day of the Ellis Rowland Memorial Tournament. Colgate takes to the court at 11 a.m. against the Tigers, and wraps up the three-match tournament in a 7 p.m. first serve against Stephen F. Austin. Admission to the tournament is free for all fans at Cotterell Court.
 
FOLLOW THE RAIDERS
For more information on the Colgate volleyball program, follow the Raiders on Twitter @ColgateVB and on Instagram at Colgate_VB.