HAMILTON – Stepping on the court with gold laces in honor of Pediatric Cancer Awareness Day, the Colgate volleyball program came out with an aggressive offense that successfully extended its win streak to three on Saturday evening. As they posted their third consecutive sweep in Patriot League play, the Raiders' match against Bucknell benefited local 3-year-old Ella Ryan, who is battling Type 2 Leukemia. For more information on Ella and the team's #EllaStrong activities, click
HERE.
HOW IT HAPPENED – 3-0 SWEEP OF BUCKNELL
For a match that featured just one lead change through three sets, it came early on in the opening game, before the Raiders went on a 6-0 scoring run to close out the set with one of
Alex Stein's team-leading 18 kills on the night. The momentum flowed over to the second game as Colgate launched to a 5-1 start, pushing Bucknell to use a timeout early in the set. After a single tie score in the game, another 5-0 scoring run built the Raiders lead to 16-6 and a Bucknell timeout. Although a slight hiccup in communication on the court led to a brief three-point run for the Bison at 22-15, Colgate was able to finish strong with back-to-back blocks and claim the game 25-19.
The Raiders were determined to finish the match in three as they didn't sacrifice any lead changes or even a tie score against their conference foe in the final game of the night. Lifting Colgate to a 14-5 edge with their lone service ace of the match was sophomore
Bridget Kolsky, while the move pressed Bucknell to use another early timeout call. Ultimately, the Raiders pressed on with dominant 25-14 final to seal the sweep of Bucknell and to extend their conference win streak to three.
STATISTICAL STANDOUTS
• The Raiders posted its highest hitting percentage of the season by a .394 mark, in addition to holding its opponent to a season-low of .012 by Bucknell.
• Just one kill shy of her career-high, junior
Alex Stein swung for a team-leading 18 kills against the Bison. The spikes came while hitting a season-high .467.
• Countering the Raiders offense was the defensive squad, which was led by senior
Jaelah Hutchison. The San Francisco, California native had a hand in six of the Raiders 8.0 total blocks of Bucknell attacks, while on the offensive side of the ball, Hutchison totaled nine kills. Hutchison also led the Colgate squad with a .533 hitting percentage.
• Posting double-digit digs on the night were both sophomore
Bridget Kolsky and senior
Katie Stansbury, each with 11 on the back line.
• In honor of the team's #EllaStrong night, head coach
Ryan Baker donated $5 for each of Colgate's 47 kills, benefitting $235 to the Ella Ryan family. For more information on how to support the Ryan family, click
HERE.
THE BOTTOM LINE
• Colgate 3, Bucknell 0 (25-14, 25-19, 25-14)
RECORD UPDATES
• Colgate improves to 8-8 on the year, and holds a 3-1 record in Patriot League play.
• Bucknell falls to 5-10 overall, with a 0-4 mark in conference action.
COACH BAKER'S TAKE
"We had a very strong pass and serve match tonight which generated some good offense."
"I felt
Julia Kurowski had a great setting match and our hitters were terminating at a high level."
"Any time you can go 2-0 in the league, it's a good weekend!"
UP NEXT
The Raiders hit the road next weekend as it travels to Annapolis, Maryland for play at Navy on Friday, Oct. 5. Colgate then continues conference play on Saturday, Oct. 6 in Washington D.C. against defending Patriot League Champion American, before returning home on Friday, Oct. 12.
FOLLOW THE RAIDERS
For more information on the Colgate volleyball program, follow the Raiders on Twitter @ColgateVB and on Instagram at Colgate_VB.
