WEST POINT, N.Y. – Army won the final three sets to snap Colgate's eight-game winning streak behind a 3-1 victory on Sunday afternoon in a first-place battle at Gillis Field House.
Despite Sunday's loss, Colgate grabbed a critical set and still controls its own destiny. The Raiders will clinch the regular season title and hosting rights for the Patriot League tournament with a win next Saturday against Lehigh or an Army loss at Loyola.
Colgate and Army are tied atop the Patriot League standings with identical records. The two teams split the regular-season series, bringing the tiebreaker to head-to-head sets won. Since Colgate swept Army at home and took one set in West Point, the Raiders hold the upper hand.
Sunday's first-place battle had a little bit of everything with both teams staging early momentum swings and late scoring runs. Harper Snyder and Abby Shadwick paced the Raiders with 13 kills apiece on a night when Colgate hit .230 as a team.
Julia Kurowski registered her second triple-double in the last three matches behind 11 kills, 13 digs, and 19 assists. Taylor Cigna (23) paced four Raiders with double-digit digs, and Snyder and Gillian Hauschild each had three block assists to pressure Army's .252 hitting clip.
Set 1: Army 27, Colgate 25
Colgate was sitting pretty after Shadwick's kill made it 17-13. After consecutive kills from Hauschild and Snyder, the Raiders stretched the lead to 24-19. Facing set point, the Black Knights, unfortunately, scored five consecutive points to tie the frame at 24-24. After Shadwick's kill gave Colgate set point once more, Army scored the final three points to take the opening set.
Set 2: Colgate 25, Army 22
The Raiders responded in a big way to win with the much-needed second set. Kills from Snyder and Kurowski sparked a 6-1 scoring spurt that put the Raiders in front early, 10-6. Carlie Rzeszotarski chipped in with back-to-back kills and stretched Colgate's lead to 19-13. After the Black Knights cut the margin to 21-16, Colgate staged its own late rally and scored the final four points behind a kill from Hauschild to level the match at one set apiece.
Set 3: Army 25, Colgate 22
The Raiders were once again in great shape after building a 17-11 advantage on the heels of a 7-1 scoring surge. Army, however, countered right back with seven consecutive points – the longest scoring run against the Raiders this season – and led 18-17. The frame was all tied up at 20-20 before Army scored five of the final seven points to win the frame, 25-22.
Set 4: Army 25, Colgate 17
Army raced out to an early 5-2 lead and never looked back in the decisive fourth set. Kurowski added another kill before a ball-handling error trimmed the deficit to 15-11, but that was unfortunately as close as the Raiders would get. Army withstood Colgate's late pressure to hold off the Raiders, 25-17, and secure the match in four sets.
FROM THE SOURCE
Head Coach Ryan Baker
"It's always a fight when we play Army and today was no different. Give credit to Army, they made some key plays when they needed to. We were streaky today in many key areas and it cost us. Road wins are hard to come by and today illustrated that. We will learn from this match and get ready for Lehigh on Saturday."
UP NEXT
Colgate (21-5, 13-2 PL) closes the regular season next Saturday when the Raiders host Lehigh at 2 p.m. With a win, Colgate clinches the title for the third time in four years and will host the final four of the Patriot League tournament Nov. 19-20.
