BETHLEHEM, PA. (11/7/09) – Five Colgate players amassed double figured kill totals as the Raiders recovered from a one-set deficit to post a 19-25, 28-26, 20-25, 25-14, 15-10 victory at Lehigh, Saturday afternoon in Patriot League volleyball action.
Kaleigh Durket (El Dorado Hills, Calif.) posted a team-best 14 kills, while Maureen Colligan (Odessa, Fla.) and Logan Keala (Kaneohe, Hawaii) had 13 in the victory. Casey Ritt (Colorado Springs, Colo.) and Kaylee Dougherty (Landisville, Pa.) rounded off the double figured kill totals with a dozen each.
The Raiders, who upped their record to 14-11 overall and 10-2 in league play, now find themselves in a tie with Army for the top spot in the regular-season standings with two more matches to go.
“We showed how tough we were tonight in coming back from a one-set deficit against a very solid Lehigh team,” said head coach Ryan Baker. “Our serving game and defense took over in the fourth set and our middle blockers dominated at the net. I’m extremely proud of how this team finds a way to win.”
Ritt and Dougherty, the two middles Baker was referring to, tallied 24 kills and hit a combined .429 against the Lehigh defense. The duo also accounted for seven blocks.
Down two sets two one, Colgate took command of the fourth game early. With the set tied at 2-2, the Raiders forged ahead on the serve of Devon Applegate (Davidson, N.C.) and got the lead up to 10-3. The advantage gradually grew the rest of the way in the set. Colgate capped off the fourth game on an attack error by the Mountain Hawks.
The Raiders never trailed in the fifth and deciding set. Back-to-back kills by Dougherty and Colligan gave them the lead for good. Trailing 8-4, Lehigh did pull within 9-8, but Colgate responded with a kill from Keala and took advantage of an attack error by Lehigh to gain a three-point cushion.
Meghan Fanta (Hillsboro, Wisc.) dished off 34 assists in the victory and continued to creep closer to sixth on the all-time assist list in Patriot League history. Blaire Safir (Oakland, Calif.) added 22 assists.
Applegate set two personal bests in the victory over Lehigh. The junior served up four aces and tallied 29 digs. The junior, who was ranked second in digs per set among conference leaders, bested her former mark of 25 set at Long Island U on September 11, 2009. It was her sixth match this season with 20 or more digs.
Angelika Kopacz posted 14 kills to lead Lehigh, which fell to 13-14 overall and 6-6 in league play. Libero Emma Melendez collected 23 digs in the loss.
Colgate will bring its five-match win streak into its final home weekend of the regular-season. The Raiders will host American, Friday evening at Cotterell Court. The match gets underway at 7 p.m. Senior Day will follow Saturday as Navy comes to town for a 4 p.m. start.
Final Stats