The Colgate women’s volleyball team rose to the top of the Patriot League stand-ings this weekend after two decisive wins against Holy Cross on Friday and Army on Saturday. They beat the Holy Cross Cru-saders three games to zero and the Army Black Nights three games to one.

The Raiders maintained a lead through-out the entire first game against Holy Cross, never letting the Crusaders get within two points of their lead.

They jumped ahead early in the set with kills from junior setter Kaylee Fifer, sophomore Mari Faines, junior Lindsay Young and senior Michelle McCarthy. Fi-fer also tallied seven digs. Colgate won the set 25-29.

The second game was closer as the teams were tied 10-10 part-way through. Sophomore Kenzie Hume had two early kills at the start of the set. However the Raiders surged ahead thanks to Holy Cross errors and more kills from Young and Faines, as well as sophomore Diane Seely.

The gap between the scores grew bigger with points from Hume, and consecutive kills from Young and Fifer clinched the second set for the Raiders.

Responding to the closer previous game, the Colgate women came out strong in the third set, possessing an early 9-2 lead, thanks in part to two kills from Seely and a service ace from Young.

The game came within five points, but Holy Cross was never able to close the gap. Colgate won the set 25-14 after points from first-year Katie Fauntleroy, Young and Fifer.

Standout players of this match were Seely and Hume, who recorded nine kills each, Fifer with 34 assists, and junior libero Caitlin Cremin who tallied 23 digs.

The Raiders’ next game against Army saw impressive stats from Seely and Young, each with 16 kills, and Fifer with 47 assists and 12 digs.

Colgate won the first game easily, with great offensive and defensive play from Seely and Faines. They closed out the game with a score of 25-18.

However in the next set, Army was on the rebound getting an early 5-2 lead. The Raiders were able to manage to tie it at 7-7 with the help of a kill from Seely and an ace from Hume. The rest of the game was back and forth, staying within two points until the Black Knights capitalized on some Colgate errors and finished the game 26-24.

Colgate didn’t let the loss get them down and come back in the third game with a 25-22 win. Still, the vicotry didn’t come easy. The set was back-and-forth again until the Raiders earned a 17-14 lead that Army couldn’t re-cover from. A kill from Fifer ended this game.

The fourth set seemed to mirror the second, with an early 5-0 lead by Army. Colgate chipped away on the lead though, thanks to a kill from McCarthy that brought the score to 8-6. Four Army er-rors put Colgate back ahead, and they won the game 25-18 thanks in part to points from Seely, Fifer, Young and first-year Brooke Shupryt-Knoop.

The Raiders’ next game is Thursday Oc-tober 4 at Bucknell, where Colgate hopes to maintain their first place standing in the Patriot League.

Contact Annie Schein at

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