LINCOLN, Neb. – Battle on the national stage.
 
That was the goal for Colgate Volleyball, and that's what the team accomplished Friday night. The Raiders hung tough and put on a strong showing against Kansas State and No. 5 Nebraska in their season-opening tournament at the Devaney Center.
 
Abby Shadwick (21), Libby Overmyer (16), and Hailey Horn-Bostel (14) recorded double-digit kills, while Sophie Thompson posted 10 blocks and Julia Kurowski registered 50 assists in the opening tournament. Taylor Cigna tallied 32 digs to pace the Raiders.

Kansas State 3, Colgate 1 (25-19, 21-25, 24-26, 16-25)
 
Colgate strung together a late run to take the opening set before dropping three narrow decisions to Kansas State, which is receiving votes in the latest AVCA national poll.
 
The back-and-forth opening frame saw neither team leading by more than four points until the late stages. K-State built an early 8-4 lead and held on to a narrow edge 14-11 before Colgate turned the tides down the stretch.
 
Back-to-back kills from Horn-Bostel and Shadwick sparked a quick 5-2 run that drew the set even at 16-16. Momentum continued in Colgate's favor with a 13-4 run after three straight attack errors from the Wildcats built the Raiders' largest lead 24-18.
 
In a fitting way to close it out, Horn-Bostel finished things off with a kill to cap off the victory. She posted a match-high .571 clip to help the Raiders take the first set 25-19.
 
K-State battled back to even the match at 1-1 with another tight second frame. After falling behind 17-12, the Raiders climbed back within 18-16 after a service ace from Cigna. It remained a two-point margin 21-19 after consecutive kills from Horn-Bostel and Shadwick, but K-State closed it out with four of the last six points to even things up.
 
Colgate went toe-to-toe with the Big 12 Wildcats once more in the third set. A furious 8-1 Raider run turned a 12-8 deficit into a 16-13 lead toward the latter stages. Kills from Harper Snyder and Kurowski surrounded a pair of attack errors to shift the momentum.
 
The third set was tied 12 times in all, including three times late at 20, 22, and 24. A kill from Overmyer survived a set point and tied things up at 24-24, but a pair of attack errors from the Raiders gave K-State a 26-24 victory and match lead at 2-1.
 
K-State raced out to an early 9-2 lead in the fourth and final set. Colgate used a short 5-2 run after a Thompson kill closed the gap to 22-16, but the Wildcats came away with the final three points to clinch the final set and take the match 3-1.



Nebraska 3, Colgate 0 (13-25, 16-25, 11-25)
 
Colgate and Nebraska traded points early in the first set and the Raiders were within 8-7 after back-to-back kills from Overmyer. The No. 5 Huskers shook it off and found another gear with an 8-0 run to open a 19-10 advantage. A pair of kills from Shadwick trimmed the deficit to 20-12, but the Raiders couldn't catch the home team en route to a 25-13 final.
 
The second set followed a similar script with both teams fighting back-and-forth in the early stages. Nebraska found another momentum shift – this one more modest – during the middle stages, using a 6-2 run to open the lead to 20-13. The two teams went point for point down the stretch and back-to-back blocks from the Huskers paved the way to a 25-16 win in Set 2.  
 
Closing out the match on their home floor, the Huskers used all the momentum to take the final set. Nebraska raced to a 10-2 lead and used the fast start to propel its way to a 19-6 advantage. Back-to-back kills from Shadwick and Thompson were the final points for the Raiders, as a service ace from Lexi Sun secured the home team's 25-11 victory.


 
FROM THE SOURCE
Head Coach Ryan Baker
 
"I'm extremely proud of how our team played on the national stage. We made Colgate proud. There were a lot of positives in our match versus Kansas State. We received some good production from Abby, Libby, and Hailey. All three stood out from start to finish. Overall it was a good showing this early in a season versus an experienced Big 12 team.
 
"Our passing game was special tonight and that allowed us to hang with one of the premier programs in the country. Our back row specialists were incredible. We will get back to work on Monday. There were some great lessons learned."
 
UP NEXT
Colgate heads to the state capital next weekend for three games at Albany. The Raiders face the host Great Danes on Friday at 7 p.m., before taking on Cornell and St. John's on Saturday.