American Defeats Colgate in Patriot League Championship
By Matt Faulkner
(Washington DC – Nov. 24, 2013) The Colgate volleyball team fought valiantly against American in the Patriot League Championship, but the Eagles came away with the 3-0 (25-22, 32-30, 25-19) win to take the title.
Colgate (22-9) got a great effort from the senior class with Lindsay Young recording a team-high 14 kills, while Kaylee Fifer nailed down another double-double with 37 assists and 17 digs. Caitlin Cremin posted 17 digs as well in her final match as a Raiders.
Rookie Kathleen Harris posted 12 kills and Diane Seely had 10 strikes, while adding a team-high three total blocks.
American (32-2) won the title thanks to Juliana Crum and Kristyna Lindovska. Crum had a double-double with a match-high 15 kills and added 10 digs. Lindovska registered 13 kills and Monika Smidova recorded 42 assists and 14 digs. Allison Cappellino led the Eagles with 14 digs.
The first set was won by American and the Eagles got out early with a 10-6 lead. The Eagle advantage increased to 16-10, but Colgate slowly clawed all the way back and took a 22-21 lead with a kill by Seely. Mari Faines and Seely had a couple of kills apiece during the run back to the lead and Jackie Macy added an ace. However, American jumped back in front and finished the set with four-straight points to go up 1-0 in the match.
The Raiders and Eagles came back out for the second set and provided everyone watching to a very entertaining set that ended in a 32-30 win for American. The Eagles had match point at 24-21 and with Colgate looking at going down 2-0, the Raiders fought back and tied the match at 24-24 with a kill and two blocks by Seely. The teams went back-and-forth and Colgate had a 27-26 lead with an assisted block by Young and Kenzie Hume.
The Eagles tied it up at 27-27 and the see-saw battle continued with Colgate earning a 29-28 lead on an attack error by American. Unfortunately, the Raiders couldn’t get that final point and Morgan Hendrix of the Eagles gave her team the 2-0 lead in the match.
The momentum carried into the third set for the Eagles with a 12-6 lead early on. Colgate clawed back to within three at 12-9. The best chance for the Raiders came in the middle of the set when Colgate was only down one at 16-15 after a kill from Young. That was the closest the Raiders got as the Eagles won the third set and the Patriot League Championship with a 25-19 win.
Colgate finishes the season with a 22-9 record. The 22 wins is the most for the Raiders since 1982 and puts the 2013 team as eighth all-time in total wins for single season.