HAMILTON – The Colgate volleyball program left it all on the floor as the Raiders battled in the Patriot League Championship.

Despite overcoming a deficit with a 12-2 run in the fourth set, the Raiders were unable to force a fifth before falling to Army 3-1.

HOW IT HAPPENED
From the start, Army capitalized on long attacks and finding space on the back court to push Colgate to call an early timeout as it trailed 7-2. Coming out of it with a point, the Raiders chipped their way back within one at 9-8, building on a couple of Sophie Thompson blocks.

As the back-and-forth score continued, Alli Lowe eventually tied it up at 12s after Colgate trailed by as many as five, but it steadily trailed by three through the 20-17 marker. Another cross-court kill by Lowe tied it up at 21s, igniting a 4-0 run. Colgate's first lead came at set point behind a solo block by Julia Kurowski, before the comeback was capped with a Lowe kill off the block.

The second game started out dangerously similar to the first game as the Raiders found themselves down by as many as eight midway through the game at 15-8. Colgate had a solid sideout, but for every point the Raiders gained, Army would tack on two as runs were hard to come by.

When they trailed by 10 at 22-12, the Raiders battled back within five at 23-18 not looking to let go of the game. As the blocking game remained prevalent, Hailey Horn-Bostel had a solo stop that lit a 7-1 run and forced four set points, but Army would be able to close it out at 25-21.

For the first time in the match, Colgate claimed the opening point of the fourth game, but again would find itself down early. Back-to-back kills by Libby Overmyer tied the game at 6s before another early timeout, but Army went on a 6-0 run to gain a 14-8 advantage. A block by Athena Leota and Thompson finally snapped the streak, but Army powered ahead to a 25-17 victory to take the lead at 2-1.

It all came down to the fourth set as Colgate faced a must-win game in the Patriot League Championship. The Black Knights built on their third set momentum as they ran ahead to a 10-3 advantage.

Leaving it all on the floor, a successful challenge by the Raiders is where it all changed. After trailing by as many as seven, Colgate came out of the challenge with a 12-2 run for a 22-19 advantage. Clean kills and a Cami Carfino ace lit the squad as they battled to force a fifth.

Coming within two at a 23-21 lead, Colgate was close, but Army sealed it with four straight points to claim the 25-23 win for the Patriot League Championship.
 
STATISTICAL STANDOUTS
• Senior Alli Lowe recorded her second 20-plus kill match of the season behind a team-high of 22 while hitting .309. she had an all-around game that included three total blocks, three digs, and an ace. With her weekend's performance, she ranks third in program history with 1,356 kills in her career.
• Defensively, the team was led by senior libero Bridget Kolsky's 14 digs. She completes her career ranked fifth in program history with 1,254 digs.
• Colgate's blocking game was led by sophomore Sophie Thompson's career-high of nine total blocks by three solos and six block assists.
• A steady presence on the court for the Raiders was junior setter Julia Kurowski. She notched 37 assists, eight digs, and four total blocks.
• Colgate's 14 total team blocks is just one shy of its season-high back in the season-opener on Feb. 19 (vs. Army).

SEASONAL STAT NUGGETS
• The Raiders only suffered one loss during the regular season, falling to Army on the road.
• After earning the No. 1 seed in the Patriot League Tournament, Colgate completed the 2020-21 season with a 5-1 record at home.
• This season, the Raiders earned the No. 1 seed and right to host the Patriot League Tournament for the first time since 2012 and advanced to their first Patriot League Championship since 2016.
• Colgate earned a seven-match win streak through the season's 10 matches, a stretch that included four sweeps.
• Cleaning up in postseason awards, Alli Lowe was named back-to-back Patriot League Player of the Year, a first for the Colgate program in program history. Julia Kurowski earned the program's first ever Setter of the Year honor, while the duo were back-to-back appearances on First Team All-Patriot League.
• First-year Harper Snyder marked the program's first freshman to be named to Second Team All-League honors since Kaleigh Durket in 2009.
• Colgate only graduates one player to the Class of 2021 in Bridget Kolsky. After earning two double-doubles and two 20-plus kill matches through the season's 10 games, Lowe it set to return for a fifth year.

ALL-TOURNAMENT TEAM
• Tournament MVP: Hannah Presley, Army
• Ana Oglivie, Army
• Mackenzie Karing, Army
• Bridget Kolsky, Colgate
• Cami Carfino, Colgate
• Carlie Fikse, American
• Katie Kerins, Holy Cross
 
THE BOTTOM LINE
• Army 3, Colgate 1 (23-25, 25-21, 25-17, 25-23)
 
RECORD UPDATES
• Colgate finished with an 8-2 overall record, and went 7-1 in the Patriot League.
• Army improves to a 6-2 mark overall and went 4-2 in league play.
 
FOLLOW THE RAIDERS
For more information on the Colgate volleyball program, follow the Raiders on Twitter @ColgateVB and on Instagram at Colgate_VB.