Volleyball Moves to 3-0 in PL Play
By Matt Faulkner
(Bethlehem, Pa. – Oct. 4, 2013) With four players recording double-figure kills, the Colgate volleyball team moved to 3-0 in league play with a 3-1 (22-25, 25-11, 25-15, 25-23) win over Lehigh on Fridaynight.
Colgate (9-5, 2-0 PL) was led by rookie Kathleen Harris, who put another double-double on the board with 16 kills and 14 digs. Diane Seely contributed with 13 kills and three solo blocks. Lindsay Young and Kenzie Hume were in double figures as well with 12 and 11 kills, respectively.
Kaylee Fifer had an exceptional match with 50 assists and a team-high 17 digs. She led a defensive unit that totaled 81 digs. Caitlin Cremin had 15 digs, while Lexi Finfer added 10.
“Our defense was special tonight,” head coach Ryan Baker. “We were everywhere on the court. Lehigh is a tough team, especially at home and we were able to come out and get a win.”
Lehigh (12-4, 4-1 PL) got 12 kills and 17 digs from Jade Van Streepen and 11 kills from Ana Vrhel. Amy Matula added 39 assists and Rachel Charles posted a match-high 18 digs.
The Mountain Hawks inched ahead by a couple of points early in the opening set and that doomed the Raiders as they never could climb out of that hole. Lehigh was able to gain a five-point advantage at 18-13 with a short four-point run with Claire Bradshaw dropping in a couple of aces. The Raiders got two within one a couple of times late in the set with Hume and Fifer adding kills with Hume getting Colgate close at 21-20. In the end, the Mountain Hawks put the Raiders away with three of the final four points and earned the first set win at 25-22.
Head coach Ryan Baker must have said something in the huddle prior to the second set because Colgate meant business with a 25-11 win to even the match. The Raiders clearly were ready to play in the second as they went up 11-4 with two kills from Hume and some help from the home team with multiple errors. Colgate kept the heat on and increased the lead to 11 at 21-10 after a block from Kate Reilly. Young finished off the set win with a kill after Hume continued her strong play with back-to-back kills.
“After set one, we just talked about staying composed and we made sure we cut down on our errors,” Baker said. “It takes a while to adjust to the gym and we were able to do that in the final three sets.”
The third set was more of the same for the Raiders as Colgate took its first lead in the match with a 25-15 win in the set. It didn’t start out great for the Raiders as Lehigh earned a 5-1 early lead. Colgate clawed back and took a 10-9 lead with Fifer posting a sneaky kill. The Raiders got up 16-13 and then scored seven-straight points to increase the advantage to 23-13. Harris was the highlight during the run with four kills, including three in a row. Young once again put away the set with a kill and Colgate was up 2-1.
Colgate got put back on its heels early in the fourth set with Lehigh earning a 14-11 lead. Just like the first set, Lehigh was able to hold off the Raiders for most of the game, but this time Colgate was composed and waited until the end of the set to pounce. The Raiders took the lead at 23-22 after a couple of attack errors by the Mountain Hawks. Seely and Harris helped the Raiders move to 3-0 in league play with each earning kills to end the match with a 25-23 win.