Fairfield Box Score
Syracuse Box Score
HAMILTON, NY (8/28/10) – After taking down Fairfield with a 3-1 win in the afternoon, the Colgate women’s volleyball team fell in the final match of the Colgate Classic to Syracuse by a 3-1 margin.
"I am extremely proud of this team played throughout the weekend,” said head coach Ryan Baker. “Our defensive attitude and effort is one of the best we've had in years. We need this to stay a constant throughout the rest of the season."
In the first match, the Raiders came out with a convincing 3-1 win to take its second match of the season and of the tournament.
Colgate (2-1) won the first two sets by healthy margins with a 25-19 victory in the first set and a cruising 25-13 victory in the second. Fairfield caught the Raiders in the third set to come away with a 25-20 victory. In the fourth set, Colgate went up 20-9, but allowed the Stags to close the gap to 21-16 with seven of eight points scored. The Raiders got help by a couple of Fairfield attack errors and a service ace from junior
Blaire Safir (Oakland, Calif.) to earn the 3-1 win with a 25-18 victory in the set.
Junior
Maureen Colligan (Odessa, Fla.) continued to be Colgate’s top hitter with 12 kills for double-digits in her second-straight match. She also added three block assists. Classmate
Kaylee Dougherty (Landisville, Pa.) registered nine kills in the win, while freshman
Kaylee Fifer (Lantana, Texas) continued to set the ball well and finished with 22 assists, taking over as the primary setter for the contest. The Raiders had a total of 37 digs with senior captain
Devon Applegate (Davidson, N.C.) leading the way with 10 of her own.
“"It was great that we were able to try a bunch of different lineups,” mentioned Baker. “Each lineup showed how deep we are this season.”
Fairfield (0-3) finished the tournament without a victory, but Brianna Dixion did her part with 10 kills on the afternoon to lead the Stags. Haililani Pokipala posted nine kills for second on the team and recorded a game-high 11 digs. Rachel Romansky set up 26 Fairfield kills for a game-high.
Colgate held Fairfield to single-digit kills in three of the four sets, while registering 11 or more in each game. The Raiders had a 30.4 hitting percentage to 8.9 percent for the Stags.
In the second game against Syracuse, the Raiders were able to take the first set with a 25-22 win. With the teams tied at 16-16, senior captain
Casey Ritt (Colorado Springs, Colo.) posted a kill and her team got help from an attack by Syracuse’s Sarah Hayes and built a two-point lead. The Orange would get as close as 21-20, but the Raiders pulled away with the set win.
The next set belonged to Syracuse as the Orange went on a late charge with an 8-3 run to make it 18-13. Colgate closed the gap to 19-17, but Syracuse finished with a 25-18 win. The third set was pivotal for both teams and they both played like it. The teams traded points up until the Orange was able to get late back-to-back kills from Hayley Todd and steal the set at 25-23.
The fourth set once again belonged to Syracuse as the Orange jumped out to a 20-12 lead and survived a late charge by the Raiders. Syracuse came away with the tournament title and a 25-22 win in the final set.
"Syracuse is a very big and strong team who played some really tough defense. However, we battled them the entire night,” said Baker. “The fan support really carried us the entire match. I know the players are very thankful of their support. It made a major difference tonight."
With freshman orientation happening over the weekend, the Raiders had huge support from the first-years and also other athletic teams that have been on campus for preseason practices.
Syracuse (3-0) was tough to stop at the front of the net. The Orange finished with 69 kills with 23 coming from Noemie Lefebvre to lead all offensive players. Todd was next with 16 kills, while Lindsay McCabe and Samantha Hinz registered 11 and 10 kills, respectively. Primary setter Laura Homann was an assist machine with 54 on the day.
Colgate had three players in double-figures for kills with Dougherty leading the way with 13, while Colligan and Ritt add 11 and 10, respectively. Safir and Fifer split time as setters with each earning 19 assists apiece. Freshman Caitlin Cremin continued her brilliant play on the back line with 12 digs, teaming up with Applegate, who finished with 11 digs.
Lefebvre was named the Colgate Classic Most Valuable Player, while teammates McCabe and Homann were placed on the All-Tournament Team. Colgate’s representatives were Colligan and Applegate. Rhode Island’s Jill Anderson and Fairfield’s Romansky rounded out the other members of the All-Tournament Team.
The Raiders will be on the road the next two weekends, starting this coming weekend at defending national champion Penn State. Colgate will be participating in the Penn State Invite, beginning on Sept. 3 at 4:30 p.m. against Virginia Commonwealth.
For up-to-date information on upcoming volleyball games, visit
Volleyball Game Central at www.GoColgateRaiders.com.