Volleyball Ends Season With Split

Volleyball Ends Season With Split

Despite knowing that it would not be going to the Patriot League tournament, the Colgate volleyball team split a pair of matches this weekend at Navy and American and finished with its highest win total since 1999, the last year it made the NCAA Tournament.

Navy took the first two games of Friday’s match, 22-30 and 31-33, but Colgate did not quit, playing a near flawless third game. The Raiders led by as many as 14 and made just one error, winning 30-16. The fourth game largely paralleled the preceding one, as Colgate started with a 15-9 run and coasted to a 30-18 win.

But the Raiders saved their best for last. Colgate took a quick 9-5 lead in the deciding fifth game, before Navy worked back to an 11-10 score. Sophomore Merryl Pohl then recorded two decisive kills as Colgate finished the game and match by winning four of the next six points for a 15-12 clincher. The Raiders hit .524 for the game and, crucially, did not commit any errors.

The match proved to be a record-setter for sophomore libero Jackie Adlam. She had 32 digs to break her own single-season team record with a match to spare. Her 560 digs to that point also set a new Patriot League record.

First-year setter Meghan Fanta also had a personal best with 62 assists. She added 12 digs on defense.

Sophomore Katrina Zawojski led the offense with a match-high 24 kills, while Pohl had 17. Senior Marybeth Maziarz had 13 kills, while junior Erin Kanetzke and first-year Kelsea Loveless each added 10.

A day later, American showed why they went unbeaten in league play with a sweep of the Raiders, 30-21, 30-17, and 30-10. The Eagles never trailed in any game and Colgate managed to tie them only twice. As a team, American hit .418 and recorded 12 service aces.

Fanta led all players in assists with 24. Adlam had 11 digs to finish the season with 571. Zawojski led the Raiders in kills with eight, while Maziarz had six in her final collegiate match. American’s Rubena Sukaj had a match-high 15 kills.

Colgate posted a final record of 14-15, going 6-8 in the Patriot League. Despite Maziarz’s departure, the Raiders anticipate a strong future led by rising seniors Kanetzke, Sheila Giovannini and Nicole Notrica and five rising juniors.