ANNAPOLIS, Md. – Colgate Volleyball is one step closer to its third consecutive Patriot League regular season championship.
That wasn't on Colgate's mind when the Raiders found themselves in a 2-0 hole at Navy Friday night. But perseverance paved the way one set at a time, and Colgate came all the way back to reverse sweep the Midshipmen, taking the final three sets to win a thriller in Annapolis.
This was the third consecutive Colgate-Navy meeting to go five sets, starting with last year's Patriot League championship. Earlier this season, the Raiders came back to win the final two sets in their 3-2 win over the Midshipmen on Sept. 22.
"I'm beyond proud of our fight tonight," said head coach Ryan Baker. "It was a total team win. It's never easy to win in this league and this match was on par for what we are seeing throughout this league. Navy had us on our heels with their serving and it really took us some time to get our passing game going. The players who came off the bench stepped up in a big way. It was a special comeback win, but we need to move on quickly. Tomorrow won't be any easier."
In Colgate's first reverse-sweep victory since Feb. 19, 2021, first-years Milan Bayless and Frances Torres led the comeback. Bayless finished with a team-best 14 kills, while Torres tallied 10 kills and a team-leading .643 hitting percentage. Taylor Cigna guided the comeback with 22 digs.
HOW IT HAPPENED
Set 1: Navy 25, Colgate 16
After a back-and-forth start, Navy took advantage of a 6-0 surge to turn a 14-10 lead into a 19-10 advantage. Colgate couldn't quite recover from the big Midshipmen run, despite kills from Gillian Hauschild, Maddie Rudolph, and Sydney Jones down the stretch. Navy closed it out with a kill from Maggie Bodman clinching the opening set for the home team, 25-16.
Set 2: Navy 25, Colgate 9
The Midshipmen raced out to a 6-0 lead and never turned back. Navy's offense was in tune with 18 kills in the frame. Carlie Rzeszotarski landed two kills for the Raiders but Navy never left a doubt, scoring five of the final six points to finish off the set, 25-9.
Set 3: Colgate 25, Navy 18
Torres was a big lift off the bench, helping the Raiders turn the tides in the third set. Back-to-back kills from Rzeszotarski and consecutive service aces from Sophie Thompson capped a 6-1 run that gave Colgate a 17-12 edge. The Mids closed within 19-17 but kills from first-years Torres and Bayless highlighted Colgate's strong finish to seal the third set, 25-18.
Set 4: Colgate 25, Navy 22
Colgate continued its momentum into the fourth set, jumping out to an 11-5 lead after kills from Bayless and Claire Dewine. A kill from Greta Hoogstra helped the Raiders stretch the lead to 14-7, and their lengthy margin remained at 22-16 on a block from Rzeszotarski. Navy came back to pull within 23-22, but kills from Abby Shadwick and Hauschild sent the match to the fifth frame.
Set 5: Colgate 15, Navy 5
The Raiders once again got off to a hot start in the fifth and final frame. With everything working, three straight kills from Bayless pushed the lead to 4-1 and forced an early Navy timeout. The Mids closed the margin to 5-4 before another kill from Bayless sparked a 5-0 burst. Kills from Thompson and Torres capped the surge and Colgate never looked back from there. Thompson completed the comeback with a strike right down the pipe to finish off the Mids, 15-5.
UP NEXT
Colgate (18-7, 11-3 PL) is back in action Saturday at Loyola. First serve is set for 4 p.m.
