HAMILTON – For the third time in six matches, Colgate Volleyball dropped a five-set battle as Stony Brook rallied to beat the Raiders 3-2 in the Ellis Rowland Memorial finale on Sunday afternoon at Cotterell Court.
Colgate was led offensively by Abby Shadwick, who registered 18 kills with a .308 hitting percentage. Frances Torres tallied 14 kills followed by Gillian Hauschild with 10. Sydney Jones paced the team with 29 assists and 15 digs. Colgate hit .168 overall to Stony Brook's .224 clip.
COACH BAKER'S COMMENTS
"We knew we were in for a tough match against Stony Brook. They are scrappy, play hard and disciplined. Credit to them and their coaches. We need to be more consistent individually and collectively. The margin for error is small and we are making errors on lack of discipline which is on me. We will get back to work this week and continue to improve."
HOW IT HAPPENED
Set 1 | Stony Brook 25, Colgate 20
Colgate's offense wasn't clicking for most of the opening frame and Stony Brook used a 4-0 run to break away from a 10-10 tie. Shadwick led the team with five kills in the set, followed by Libby Overmyer and Hauschild with three each, but the Raiders hit just .133 overall and Stony Brook took the first set, 25-20.
Set 2 | Colgate 25, Stony Brook 23
A slow start for Colgate allowed Stony Brook to build an early 11-5 lead. Kills from Shadwick and Overmyer sparked a 5-0 response. The Seawolves worked their way back in front 20-17 but a pair of kills by Milan Bayless squared the frame 20-20. Colgate stole momentum with four of the final five points, capped off with back-to-back kills from Shadwick, to even the match.
Set 3 | Colgate 29, Stony Brook 27
The Raiders needed another epic comeback in the third set. Trailing 23-19, Colgate flipped the script with four unanswered points. Bayless and Frances Torres landed kills in the burst to push the Raiders in front 24-23. Both teams survived multiple set points before Greta Hoogstra sealed the comeback with a block in the middle to give the Raiders a 2-1 lead in the match.
Set 4 | Stony Brook 25, Colgate 18
Both teams traded early runs before Stony Brook broke away from a 10-10 deadlock with a game-changing 8-1 burst that included four Colgate attack errors. The Raiders staged a late comeback with four unanswered points including a service ace by Overmyer but it was too little too late and the Seawolves pulled away, 25-18.
Set 5 | Stony Brook 19, Colgate 17
In a tightly-contested seesaw fifth set, both teams had several opportunities with match point. Colgate erased an early 11-8 deficit and held a 14-13 lead before Stony Brook evened the score. With the Raiders holding a 16-15 lead, Torres landed a kill at the top of the tape that emptied the Colgate bench in celebration, but Stony Brook won its challenge of a net violation and play continued. After the match was tied once more at 17-17, the Seawolves scored back-to-back kills by Quinn Anderson to win the marathon, 19-17.
UP NEXT
Colgate (1-5) heads to New Haven, Conn., for three games at Yale next weekend, starting on Friday with a 4 p.m. matchup against Fairfield. The Raiders face Villanova on Saturday at 2 p.m. before capping off the weekend against Yale at 12 noon on Sunday.
Ellis Rowland Memorial All-Tournament Team
Emma Werkmeister (MVP), UConn
Taylor Pannell, UConn
Abby Leigh, Buffalo
Abby Shadwick, Colgate
Leoni Kunz, Stony Brook
