Senior Caitlin Cremin recorded a match-high 22 digs Friday night for the Colgate volleyball team against American University. (Photo by Bob Cornell)
By Matt Faulkner
(Hamilton, NY – Oct. 11, 2013) The Colgate women’s volleyball team played two flawless sets to earn an early 2-0 lead, but American completed a five-set comeback to earn the 3-2 (16-25, 10-25, 25-22, 25-23, 7-15) win.
The Raiders (11-6, 4-1 PL) were led by seniors Kaylee Fifer, Lindsay Young and Caitlin Cremin. Fifer had another double-double with 46 assists and 10 digs, while Young posted a team-high 13 kills. Cremin was all over the court and recorded a match-high 22 digs in the loss.
The Eagles (19-2, 5-1 PL) got a match-high 15 kills from Kristyna Lindovska. American did a lot of its damage at the front of the net with 24 total blocks with 10 from Kelly McCaddin alone. Monika Smidova posted 29 assists and Megan Rosburg had 16 digs.
“American is a great team and have been since they entered the league,” head coach Ryan Baker said. “I give them a lot of credit, they made some adjustments after the second set. I feel we got a little passive and made a lot of our own mistakes.”
Colgate came out the gates ready to play and it showed in the first two sets. The Raiders jumped out to an early 9-3 lead in the opening game with two kills from Young and aces from Jackie Macy and Cremin. The Eagles climbed back in the set at 12-9, but the Raiders responded and blew them out the rest of the set, including five of the last six points to win 25-16. Kenzie Hume had two of the final five points.
American looked out of it in the second set and the Raiders took advantage and won the game, 25-10. Colgate finished the set with a 15-2 run, which was one of the best runs of the year. Harris had four kills during the advantage and Macy posted two more aces.
The momentum continued into the third set early on as Colgate jumped out to a 6-2 lead thanks to four errors by the Eagles and kills from Young and Diane Seely. Colgate held onto the lead until American went ahead at 18-17 on a Colgate error. The Raiders got back to within one at 22-21, but the Eagles put away the set at 25-22 to cut the deficit down to 2-1 in the match.
The fourth set saw American gain an early lead and Colgate chased the rest of the way. The Raiders slowly cut away at a four-point deficit at 14-10, but could not get over the hump. American won the set at 25-22.
The wind was let out of Colgate’s sail in the fifth set with American earning a 9-4 lead right out of the gate. The Eagles never looked back and completed the comeback with a 15-7 win in the final set.
“In the end, we are still tied for first place with an extra game to play and I view this as a learning experience for the team,” Baker added.