Nov. 4, 2005
Box Score
EASTON, Pa. (www.lafayette.edu) - Junior Veronica Canto-Ponce poured in 22 kills to lead the Lafayette volleyball team to a 3-0 Patriot League win over Colgate Friday night at Kirby Sports Center.
Lafayette out-powered the Raiders, hitting .244 overall to Colgate's .101. The win avenged a 3-0 loss to Colgate back on Oct. 8. Lafayette dominated the Raiders on Friday, winning 30-27, 30-20, 30-21.
The Leopards jumped out to an early lead in the first two games, but a resilient Colgate team would not back down midway through both. The Leopards used precision hitting and a scrappy defense to put both games away.
In game one, Lafayette started out with 7-4 lead on a kill from senior Catherine Herchenroder, and the Leopards continued to maintain a healthy margin. Three straight Colgate points made it 17-14, which represented the deficit in the end. Lafayette held a 29-22 lead on another Herchenroder kill, but Colgate strung together five straight points to cut the lead to 29-27. Freshman setter Megan Carter then connected with sophomore Michaela Donohue, who put down the kill to end the session.
Game two featured serving consistency to back the Leopard attack. Donohue started the game with five straight points, while freshman Kathleen Kretzmer put together four to put the Leopards up 8-2 early. Kills from Canto-Ponce and Herchenroder capped each stretch. Holding a 10-6 advantage, freshman Audrey O'Donnell served for five points, giving the Leopards a commanding 15-6 lead. Lafayette led by as many as 10, 29-19, and put the game away with a kill from Herchenroder.
Lafayette fell behind early in the third, but came back to knot the score at seven all on a Herchenroder kill from Carter. Midway through, the game featured five ties, but the Leopards used an 8-0 run to take a 19-13 lead. The Leopards maintained the comfortable advantage en route to the match victory.
Canto-Ponce led the Leopards with match-high 22 kills to go with six blocks. O'Donnell and Donohue anchored the Lafayette defense with 16 and 14 digs, respectively. Carter ended the day with 40 assists.
Lafayette improved to 15-13 overall and 4-8 in the Patriot League, while Colgate dropped to 6-19 and 5-7 in the league.
The Leopards return to action tomorrow to host Bucknell at 4 p.m.
