WEST POINT, N.Y. – In a battle between the Patriot League's top two teams, Army came out on top of the Raiders by a final score of 3-0 Saturday evening inside Gillis Field House.Â
Colgate and Army are now tied in the loss column. The Raiders have played one more league contest up to this point, giving them a half-game lead. The two teams split the regular season series, both winning by sweeps on their home courts.Â
"Army came out very strong and we weren't able to get into any rhythm," said head coach
Ryan Baker. "The league is the strongest it's been in my 18 years and we need to keep grinding and getting better. While we are all disappointed with our performance, there are a lot of important matches left. We have some things to figure out and I look forward to practice this week."
The Raiders hit just .131 against Army's tough defensive front, which tallied eight blocks on the night. The Black Knights finished with a .257 hitting percentage. Abby Shadwick led Colgate with nine kills to go with 14 digs in the road defeat.Â
HOW IT HAPPENED
Set 1: Army 25, Colgate 17
Army raced out to a 10-4 lead and never looked back in the opening set. Kills from Shadwick and Sydney Jones pulled Colgate within 17-11 but the Black Knights opened their margin back to as many as nine points 21-12 before putting it away with a kill from Alyssa Lukasik.Â
Set 2: Army 25, Colgate 22
The second set was the closest battle with the two teams trading the early lead. The Black Knights opened the first significant margin 12-7 and managed to maintain a 20-15 edge. Kills from Frances Torres and Carlie Rzeszotarski sliced the deficit to 20-18 but that was as close as Colgate would get. Another kill from Lukasik sealed the set for Army, 25-22.Â
Set 3: Army 25, Colgate 20
Back-to-back kills from Shadwick had Colgate in front 7-6 but Army responded with two separate 4-0 surges to take the lead and then stretch the margin. Milan Bayless, Shadwick, and Torres landed kills down the stretch but the Black Knights kept their distance and eventually finished off the first sweep against Colgate since September 2021 with a kill from Paige Fixemer.Â
UP NEXT
Colgate (17-7, 10-3 PL) continues its tough road trip next weekend, starting with a 7 p.m. first serve Friday night at Navy. The Raiders bested the Mids in a 3-2 thriller in Hamilton back on Sept. 22.
