HAMILTON – Colgate Volleyball dominated both sides of the net and advanced to the Patriot League championship for the third consecutive year with a 3-0 sweep of fourth-seeded Loyola in semifinal action Saturday afternoon at Cotterell Court.
Colgate hit .333 as a team and held Loyola to .153. Seven different Raiders recorded at least one kill, led by Julia Kurowski, who finished with eight and posted a .467 hitting percentage. Sophie Thompson and Abby Shadwick tallied seven kills apiece. Kurowski (18) and Sydney Jones (15) combined for 33 of the team's 35 total assists.
Defensively, Colgate registered 18 block assists to Loyola's four. Thompson (5) and Harper Snyder (4) combined for nine block assists, while Shadwick and Kurowski each added three.
Set 1: Colgate 25, Loyola 21
Colgate broke away from an early two-point advantage with a 5-0 run sparked by a kill from Jones. Kurowski netted one of her two kills during the surge to help push the Raiders in front 16-10. The Greyhounds staged a three-point run later in the frame to close the gap to 17-14 but another kill from Jones snapped the streak. The Raiders maintained a healthy advantage through the late stages and a kill by Gillian Hauschild sealed the first set, 25-21.
Set 2: Colgate 25, Loyola 22
Back-to-back kills from Thompson helped Colgate race out to an early 6-2 advantage. The Greyhounds brought it back even with four consecutive points before the Raiders countered with a 5-1 surge to open the gap to 15-10 at the timeout. Loyola chipped away and finally leveled the score at 20-20 before Colgate took control down the stretch, scoring five of the last seven points. Kills from Kurowski and Shadwick pushed the Raiders over the top, 25-22.
Set 3: Colgate 25, Loyola 19
The Raiders used a late surge to take control of the third and final set. Both teams traded 3-0 runs through the middle stages of the back-and-forth frame. Kills from Kurowski and Thompson carried Colgate in front 16-14. After Loyola cut the deficit to 18-17, Colgate hit its stride and pulled away with a 5-0 run, highlighted by a service ace from Rachael Martinez. The Raiders scored seven of the last nine points to charge to the championship with a 3-0 sweep.
FROM THE SOURCE
Head Coach Ryan Baker
"It was great to come away with a solid win against an always tough and gritty Loyola team. We had a good passing match, which gave our setters a lot of options. The atmosphere was special in Cotterell tonight and it gave our team a real home-court advantage. We will need our fans again as we will face another tough battle on Sunday for the championship."
UP NEXT
Colgate (23-5, 14-2 PL) advances to Sunday's Patriot League championship match and will take on third-seeded Navy at 2 p.m. The Midshipmen upset the second-seeded Black Knights 3-2 in a five-set semifinal marathon. Admission for the championship is free and pizza will be available to the first 150 fans in attendance courtesy of Oliveri's.
