This past weekend, the Colgate volleyball team had a double header, facing Lafayette on Friday, October 13 at 7 p.m., and facing American on Saturday, October 14 at 4 p.m. After a win against Lafayette on Friday, the Raiders fell short against American. The volleyball team finished the weekend with a 1-1 record, moving them to 11-9 overall and 2-6 in conference.

The first set against Lafayette had competitive matchups, as the biggest lead was only four points. The Raiders and the Lafayette Leopards battled back and forth within one point of each other until the Raiders broke a 14-14 tie with a 4-0 run. However, Lafayette came back and once again tied the game at 20-20. The Raiders rallied hard to finish off the set with a kill by first-year outside hitter Alli Lowe.

The Raiders carried their momentum into the second set, starting off with a quick 7-2 lead, which they maintained until the Leopards came back with a 5-0 run to make the set 21-20. Colgate was unable to get back into the game as Lafayette used another 5-0 run to win the set 25-22. 

Colgate recovered quickly and used a 8-0 run to take a dominant 18-5 lead in the third set. The Leopards were unable to fight back and the Raiders finished the set with a 25-10 victory. The final set followed a similar trend, with the Raiders tallying a 18-7 lead. Colgate was able to hold the Leopards off and finish the final set 25-14. Notable performances came from senior setter Lauren Sanderson, who had 49 assists and 10 digs, along with junior outside hitter Katie Stansbury who had 13 kills and 18 digs; both finished the match with double-doubles. 

“Overall, this was a total team win,” head coach Ryan Baker said about the victory, which was the team’s 21st straight win over the Leopards. 

The Raiders traveled back to Hamilton to face the American University Eagles on Saturday. Colgate was hoping to finish off the weekend strong with a four-game winning streak. However, in a hard fought battle, the Raiders fell to the Eagles 3-2. 

Early in the first set, American cultivated a 6-1 lead, forcing the Raiders to use a timeout early on. After the timeout, the Raiders rallied and tied the score at 10-10. The score was within two points until the Eagles used a 6-1 streak to take the first set 25-20. 

The second set was a tough back and forth contest. The score was tied 13 different times throughout the set. The Raiders had a 5-0 run to put them ahead, but American came back to tie the score at 24 and at 25. After a service ace from senior middle blocker Claudia Pena and two kills by Lowe, Colgate finished with a 28-26 win. 

The Raiders used this momentum to carry them into a quick 6-2 lead in the third set. Colgate maintained this lead and won the third set 25-15. Unfortunately, the Eagles came back hard in the third and fourth set, winning both. 

Despite the loss, Colgate proved to be on the same level as four-time defending Patriot League champions.

“The team finally came together today and played consistently and competitively,” sophomore middle blocker Taylor Flaherty said.  

Colgate hosts Bucknell on Friday, October 20 at 7 p.m. and Lehigh on Saturday, October 21 at 4 p.m. on Cotterell Court. The Raiders are hoping to finish out the second half of Patriot League play 8-0. 

Contact Cassie Warwick at cwarwick@colgate.edu.