The volleyball team opened its Patriot League play last weekend, splitting a two-game home series at Cotterell Court with a win against Holy Cross on Friday night 3-2 and a 3-1 loss to Army on Saturday.

Sophomore Kaylee Dougherty led the Raiders in Friday nights match up against the Crusaders with 14 kills, helping Colgate come from a game down and take the victory in five games. The final score read: 20-25, 25-12, 23-25, 25-22, 15-10.

The Raiders got additional offensive help from junior Casey Ritt and first-year Kaleigh Durket who each added 12 kills of their own, while sophomore Maureen Colligan tacked on 10.

Junior libero Devon Applegate anchored the defense, providing 19 digs, while senior captain Megan Fanta and junior Logan Keala each collected 10.

Coach Ryan Baker was most impressed with the way the team adjusted in order to secure the win.

“Holy Cross had great defense all night, we really had to respond and increase our defensive intensity which we did,” Coach Baker said. “We handled the pressure really well and fought for the win. “

Unfortunately Colgate was unable to duplicate this effort the next day as the Raiders fell to the Army Black Knights in four games: 25-27, 20-25, 25-22, 22-25.

The Raiders really struggled during the first two games, never holding the lead by more than a point.

The Black Knights were able to break the first game wide open when they won six consecutive points to make it 20-12, but Colgate answered back, rattling off six points of their own to come within two. With the help of six kills by Keala, the Raiders found themselves looking at two game points, only to see their efforts ultimately fall short.

After losing the first two games, the momentum shifted in the Raiders favor, as they jumped out to an early 4-0 lead. Army answered back with an impressive run, and with the scored fixed at 20-20, Colgate was able to rattle off five consecutive points on the serve of Applegate, winning the game.

The comeback rally was short lived. Army closed out the match in convincing fashion winning the last three points of the fourth game.

Despite the loss, there were several bright spots for the Raiders in a well played match.

Keala was most impressive as she posted a career high 13 kills, while Dougherty, Colligan and Durket each posted nine. Applegate had a solid night, with 21 digs.

If anything, this weekend was a learning experience for Colgate. Only two games into the conference season Coach Baker already knows what his team needs to work on.

“So far I’m really happy with our serve and receive game and our distribution of the ball,” Baker said. “But our blocking game needs to improve in order for us to contended for a championship. We also need to compete more.”

Fanta, who had 25 assists in Saturday’s loss had encouraging things to say about her teammates moving forward.

“Logan [Keala] and Kaleigh [Durket] really had great matches,” Fanta said. “They really put the ball away for us.”

After the split this weekend, Colgate’s record stands at 4-8 and 1-1 in Patriot League play. The Raiders will head south for the weekend to face Patriot League opponents Navy and American on the road. Colgate defeated Navy both times in the regular season last year, but lost to American three times.