HAMILTON — Colgate bounced back from a slow start to win the final three sets and knock off American 3-1 on Friday night at Cotterell Court in the first meeting between the two teams since last year's Patriot League championship.
Milan Bayless once again led the charge for Colgate, finishing with 13 kills, eight digs, and two solo blocks to go with her .278 hitting percentage. Libby Overmyer posted a season high with nine kills and Greta Hoogstra finished with seven kills and a .600 hitting clip.
Defensively, Hoogstra and Tiana Owens registered six block assists apiece. The Raiders had 16 total blocks with two each from Frances Torres and Lal Akin.
COACH BAKER'S COMMENTS
"I'm very proud of our response. Credit to American as they put us on our heels early on, but we settled in as the match progressed. I was really pleased with our block and defense which I thought changed the match. We need to get ready for a hungry Navy team."
HOW IT HAPPENED
Set 1 | American 25, Colgate 14
American stormed out to an early 6-0 lead and never looked back. The Eagles led by as many as 13 points (18-5) in an uncharacteristic opening set for the Raiders. A service ace by Sydney Jones sparked a 7-1 run for Colgate aided by three straight errors for the visitors. Tiana Owens' kill cut the margin to 24-13 before the Eagles scored the final point to take the frame, 25-14.
Set 2 | Colgate 25, American 13
Colgate flipped the script in the second set, dominating both sides of the net. The Raiders registered 13 kills and six blocks to American's zero blocks and eight kills. Overmyer and Bayless both came alive, combining for eight total kills with four apiece. Colgate opened a 7-2 lead and led wire-to-wire, capped off by back-to-back kills from Overmyer to even the match.
Set 3 | Colgate 25, American 17
Defensively the Raiders once again held the upper hand in Set 3, totaling four blocks to American's zero. The Eagles led 4-1 early before Colgate took charge with a 7-0 blitz, which included kills from Jones, Bayless, Hoogstra, and Owens to lead 18-13. Akin took over down the stretch, denying American's kill attempt with her third block of the set to seal the victory.
Set 4 | Colgate 25, American 15
Colgate raced out to a 6-2 lead and rode the momentum. Overmyer and Hoogstra landed kills in another 3-0 spurt that stretched the margin to 12-5. Back-to-back kills from Hoogstra gave Colgate its largest lead 20-11 and Overmyer fittingly sealed the victory with her fourth kill of the frame.
UP NEXT
Colgate (5-8, 3-0 Patriot) closes out the weekend by hosting Navy (0-11, 0-2 Patriot) at 5 p.m. on Saturday. The teams last met in the 2023 Patriot League semifinals where the Raiders were victorious 3-1 on their way to their third consecutive conference title.
