The Colgate Women’s Volleyball team has continued to dominate the Patriot League with a 7-1 record in league and a 15-6 record overall. After their first Patriot League loss to American, the Raiders went on to defeat Loyola, Albany, Bucknell and Lafayette this past week.

After dropping the contest against American, the Raiders rallied to defeat Loyola the following day in another match at Cotterell Court. The Raiders beat the Greyhounds 3-1 due in part to junior middle blocker Diane Seely with 11 kills, senior setter Kaylee Fifer with 33 assists and seniors libero Caitlin Cremin and Allie Dyer each with 13 and 11 digs respectively.

The two teams started out considerably even until a 7-2 point run by the Raiders after kills from sophomore right side Kate Reilly, senior outside hitter Lindsey Young and Seely. Two blocks from Fifer and a final kill from Seely assured Colgate the win in the first set with a score of 25-21.

Despite their success in the first set, Loyola dominated the first 19 points of the second set, taking a 15-4 advantage over the Raiders. Colgate fought its way back to a score of 19-14, but a six point run from the Greyhounds gave them the second set with a 25-14 win.

Colgate countered in the third set with a huge 7-1 lead at the start. Their success was due partly to Loyola’s unforced errors but also thanks to kills from junior middle blocker Kenzie Hume, Seely and Young, and an ace from Dyer. Loyola fought their way back into the set, tying the game at 14. Then Colgate pulled ahead once again taking a 19-14 advantage that led the Raiders to a 25-22 win after a block from Young. The fourth set started out between the two opposing teams. However, the Raiders took 15 of the last 17 points of the match with five aces from Cremin in order to secure a landslide 25-11 victory over

the Greyhounds.

That following Wednesday, Colgate took on Albany in one of their best offensive games of the season. Thanks to Cremin and first-year outside hitter Kathleen Harris with 19 and 16 digs respectively, Fifer had 36 assists over the course of the match. As a result, Seely had 14 kills with a 50 percent hitting percentage and two blocks, while Hume had 11 kills as well. While the Raiders hitting flourished, the Great Danes faltered as they had a hitting percentage of .056 compared to Colgate’s 25 percent.

Colgate took an immediate 4-1 lead, but the Raiders were countered as Albany took control and an 11-9 lead after a 7-1 point run. Then Seely contributed to a 6-2 point run with three kills, putting the Raiders up 15-13. From there Colgate pushed six of the last seven points in order to secure the 25-18 win in the first set.

The Raiders came out and used their momentum in the second set as they took a large 15-6 lead at the start after a 13-2 point run. Seely kept up her success at the net with three kills and a block. But Colgate’s success was helped by the various unforced errors on the other side. Albany pushed to reduce the advantage to 18-15, but Colgate took the win with help from Hume and junior middle blocker Mari Faines with a score of 25-20.

From there the Raiders never let up starting with a 16-8 lead over the Great Danes. Reilly had three kills, and Seely and Young each added two as well. Although Albany made attempts to get back in the match, Colgate took the set 25-17 with another kill from Young, beating Albany 3-0.

The Raiders then travelled to Lewisburg Pennsylvania to play Bucknell. They swept the Bison 3-0 as the Raiders won 25-21, 25-20 and 25-17. Seely led Colgate with 16 kills and three blocks, while Young had 10 and Harris and Hume each had eightand seven kills respectively. Fifer had 35 sets throughout the match and in the back row Harris contributed with 11 digs followed by senior libero Lexi Finger with eight digs.

The following day, Colgate traveled to Easton Pennsylvania to win its fourth consecutive match over Lafayette in a 3-0 sweep. The Raiders at this point are still tied for first place in the Patriot League with fellow competitors Army and American after securing their 7-1 record in Patriot League play on Saturday. Seely once again led her team with nine kills, while Cremin led the defense with 14 digs. Colgate’s success limited the Leopard’s success as they ended the match with a negative hitting percentage.

In the first set, the Raiders took the first five points after Seely got two kills followed by one from Kate Reilly and an ace from Cremin as well. The Raiders took off on a run earning them an overwhelming 23-12 lead over Lafayette. Then, sophomore outside hitter/right side Katie Fauntleroy got a kill to win the first set 25-15.

Colgate’s momentum never waivered as they took another early 11-2 lead at the start of the second set. Reilly got three kills in those first 13 points while Dyer got two consecutive aces. Lafayette fought back decreasing the Raiders’ advantage to 15-11. Despite their efforts however, Colgate went on a 10-1 point run to secure a 25-12 win.

In the third set, the Raiders pushed once again to achieve a 12-5 lead early in the set. Although Colgate was assisted by Lafayette’s unforced errors, Young had two kills and first year defensive specialist Madison McAndrews got an ace. The Leopards made another attempt to come back with a 6-0 point run. But after a timeout, Colgate went on its second 11-2 point run of the set to finish with a 25-14 win and the sweep over Lafayette.

The Raiders take on Lafayette on Saturday for the second time at 5:00 p.m. at Cotterell Court.

Contact Jessica Rice at [email protected].