BALTIMORE – Colgate Volleyball handed Loyola its first home loss of the season and capped off the weekend sweep with a 3-1 victory Saturday afternoon at Reitz Arena.
The Raiders have now won 16 of their last 17 and five in a row since dropping their only league match of the season at Navy earlier this month. Colgate's defense was the story on Saturday after holding the Greyhounds to a .182 hitting percentage with 12 blocks.
Colgate hit .264 with four players in double-digit kills. Harper Snyder posted a season-high 12 kills to lead the offensive attack. Abby Shadwick (11 kills, 11 digs), Sydney Jones (28 assists, 10 digs), and Julia Kurowski (23 assists, 21 digs) all registered double-doubles.
Sophie Thompson and Gillian Hauschild each recorded 10 kills, plus Thompson added five block assists and four digs to go with a .600 hitting percentage. Taylor Cigna matched the defensive performance with 19 digs from the libero spot.
Set 1: Colgate 25, Loyola 22
Colgate charged in front with a 5-0 scoring surge and led 11-6 after back-to-back attack errors. Loyola raced to a 15-14 lead before Colgate countered with four straight points, capped off by a kill from Thompson, to retake the lead, 18-15. The score was 22-21 when Colgate tallied three of the final four points and a kill from Carlie Rzeszotarski sealed the opening-set victory, 25-22.
Set 2: Colgate 25, Loyola 23
Early momentum swings saw Colgate establish an 8-3 lead before Loyola scored six straight points to take a 9-8 lead. The back-and-forth set was even at 19-19 before a kill from Hauschild sparked a 3-0 run, and then both teams traded points the rest of the way. Snyder capped off the frame with a kill from the middle to push the Raiders over the top, 25-23.
Set 3: Loyola 25, Colgate 22
The seesaw third set saw both teams sharing the lead with Loyola in front by as many as three points, 13-10, before Colgate scored three straight thanks to kills from Kurowski and Hauschild. Loyola led by three again, 19-16, but the Raiders stormed back to tie it at 22-22 on a kill by Shadwick. Loyola used one more 3-0 run, however, to pull away for the 25-22 win in Set 3.
Set 4: Colgate 25, Loyola 16
The Raiders left no doubt in the fourth set and built an early 10-4 lead on the heels of two kills from Thompson. Colgate led by as many as eight, 14-6, and never trailed by less than six the rest of the way. Loyola cut it to 21-15 before the Raiders scored four of the final five points. Shadwick's soft kill from the back row clinched the set and the match, 25-16.
FROM THE SOURCE
Head Coach Ryan Baker
"I'm really proud of the team for their fight on the road this weekend. We showed some true toughness in many areas of the game. Overall, our serve game was impressive and it led to a lot of good opportunities. We will get back to work on Monday."
UP NEXT
Colgate (18-4, 10-1 PL) is back home for four of its last five matches of the regular season, starting with a pair of matchups next weekend in Hamilton. The Raiders host Lafayette for Senior Day on Friday at 6 p.m., followed by Bucknell on Saturday at 3 p.m.
