The volleyball team split another weekend on the road, beating Holy Cross last Friday but losing to Army last Saturday. The weekend put the Raiders at 6-10 overall and 2-2 in the league.

“It’s really difficult playing on the road three weekends straight, but to be 2-2 at this point is not worrisome,” Head Coach Ryan Baker said. “If we’re able to get a win this Friday at Bucknell, putting us at 3-2, we’ll be exactly where we were last year at this time.”

The match against Holy Cross was a quick sweep for Colgate, as the Raiders dominated the struggling Crusader squad, 25-11, 25-20 and 25-20. The Raiders got off to a quick start in all three of the sets and never relinquished the lead.

“During the Holy Cross match, we were in system throughout the whole match. We had good production from the hitters, and the whole team was able to contribute in that match, which was good to see,” Baker said.

Sophomore defensive specialist Devon Applegate agreed.

“We played well as a team; everyone contributed. It was a team win.”

The statistics really prove Applegate’s statement on the defensive side. Senior captain Jackie Adlam cashed in with a team high nine digs. Senior captain Katrina Zawojski and sophomore middle blocker Casey Ritt followed with four digs apiece. Sophomore outside hitter Logan Keala also added to the cause with four digs each. Junior setter Meghan Fanta tallied up 27 assists. At the net, Zawojski and junior Kelsea Loveless dominated with 11 and 10 kills, respectively. The team’s hitting average from set one was a noteworthy .435 percent.

Saturday’s match against Army, played at Gillis Field House, started out very optimisticly for the Raiders.

“The first set we played the best volleyball I’ve seen in my four years here. But unfortunately we weren’t able to keep our focus and intensity throughout the rest of the match. We made some critical serving errors and a lot of unforced errors as well,” Baker said.

The Raiders came out ready to crush the Army Black Knights in the first set, gaining a head start of 11-5 and then keeping a lead of at least six points all the way to the finish at 25-16.

“I thought we really brought a lot of intensity in the first game, which brought us confidence. It was really exciting and fun, especially the first match,” Applegate said.

The remaining three sets saw the Black Knights bounce back from their loss in set one and avenging last year’s defeat in the Patriot League tournament, in which Colgate eliminated them in semifinals. The Raiders lost the last three sets with scores of 22-25, 25-27 and 19-25. Zawojski again led the offense, putting down 19 kills. She was followed by Ritt with nine, first-year middle blocker Kaylee Dougherty with eight and Keala with six. Fanta dished out 37 assists for the match. In the back court, Adlam brought up 14 digs. Keala added nine, Fanta with eight and Applegate and Zawojski with seven apiece.

“I think the team would even say Devon and Katrina were very consistent throughout the match,” Baker said. “However, to beat a team like Army, you need a consistent performance from everyone. It’s all mental, and we’re going to work on that.”

The Raiders travel again this weekend to face Bucknell in Lewisburg, Pennsylvania. They play at 6 p.m. tonight and then on Tuesday against Cornell at Cotterell Court at 7 p.m.