The Colgate women’s volleyball team had a successful weekend, adding two wins to their already impressive season record. On Friday, October 28 the Raiders faced Navy on the Midshipmen’s home turf in Annapolis, MD and came out on top with a final score of 3-2 and individual set scores of 16-25, 25-19, 25-27, 29-27, and 16-14. Senior outside hitter Kathleen Harris played her most impressive game yet, leading the Raiders with 21 kills and a career best 23 digs. 

The Raiders lost the first set to the Mids, falling behind too early to gain enough ground to overtake them. Sophomore middle blocker Jaelah Hutchison proved a vital member of the team, fighting throughout the first set to try and overtake Navy by contributing two individual kills on top of Harris’ three. 

The second set began much like the first, with the Raiders initially falling short. However, due to an impressive run made by the Raiders and several errors made by Navy, they managed to overcome adversity and battle their way back to win the set 25-19. 

The first two sets proved to be a warmup for the remainder of the match, with Colgate and Navy battling evenly for the win. Navy managed to snag the third set while Colgate persevered and went on to win the fourth and fifth sets. 

Harris and Hutchison proved to be the match’s most valuable players, both playing an incredibly impressive game, while senior defensive specialist Madison McAndrews proved to be a defensive asset, contributing 25 digs for the Raiders. This impressive victory over Navy put the Raiders in second place in the Patriot League conference. Head Coach Ryan Baker reflected on the game.

“We started off slow and made some unusual errors, but we responded, which is what we preach everyday,” Baker said. “Jaelah and Kat had huge matches for us and Madison settled the pass game for us. It was a total team win. The sideline provided huge energy and I believe they earned us the win.

On Saturday, October 29 the Raiders maintained their second place Patriot League standing when they faced Lehigh for the second time this season, coming out victorious with a final score of 3-0 and individual set scores of 25-17, 25-17, and 25-22. 

The Raiders started strong with junior setter Molly Smith serving two aces that, along with multiple errors made by Lehigh and five kills contributed by Harris, put Colgate safely in the lead. The Raiders went on to sweep Lehigh in the next two sets with impressive performances put forth by Hutchison, senior right side/outside hitter Katie Stebbins, and sophomore outside hitter Katie Stansbury. 

Harris commented on what gave the team a successful weekend. 

“We definitely felt the match out against Navy. It was their senior night and they came out with a lot of energy. However, I’m really proud with how we battled all night. It might not have been the cleanest win, but we really grinded and played for each other,” Harris said.  

This weekend further proved just how capable the Raiders are as they continue to climb the ranks of the Patriot League.

Harris feels that even with their strong performance this weekend, they still have a lot of work to do as a team.

“It was definitely a great road weekend for us, but we still have a lot of improvements to make before the tournament,” Harris said.

Next for the Raiders is Bucknell; they will host the Bison on November 1 at home, followed by two more home games this weekend. On Friday the team will play American at 7 p.m. and on Saturday they take on Loyola at 2 p.m. The Raiders have a busy week ahead of them, and it is absolutely vital that they continue to focus on what has made them a Patriot League threat so far if they hope to see postseason play.