Oct. 2, 2010
Box Score
EASTON, Pa. - The Lafayette and Colgate volleyball teams each staged long rallies at different points in Saturday afternoon's match at Kirby Sports Center. However, while the Raiders' early rally led to a set-one victory, the Leopards' run in set three fell just short as the visitors claimed a 3-0 win.
With the loss, Lafayette falls to 4-13 overall and 0-4 in Patriot League play. Colgate completes a 2-0 road weekend with the win, moving to 10-7 overall and 3-1 in league action.
Senior co-captain Kayly Elmer and junior Alana Taylor each posted nine kills to lead the Leopards' offense. Freshman Karissa Ciliento had seven kills to go along with 12 digs, and senior co-captain Katrina Racibarskas added four finishers. Freshman Molly Belcher tallied three kills and sophomore Alexandra Russo had two to round out the Lafayette attack. Belcher also distributed a match-best 26 assists from the setter spot.
Defensively, freshman libero Mackenzie Larsen racked up a team-high 19 digs. The Leopards matched their opponents at the net, as each squad posted three blocks. Elmer and Taylor each had a hand in two rejections.
Serving continued to be a bright spot for Lafayette, which landed nine aces in the three-set encounter. Junior Christy Mebust had four aces, and five different Leopards dropped in one winner apiece.
After Colgate took an early 6-3 lead in the opening frame, Lafayette rallied behind Mebust's serve with seven consecutive points to claim the advantage at 10-6. The Leopards pulled away to a cushion as large as six points, eventually holding an 18-15 edge after an Elmer kill. Lafayette would not score again in the set, however, as the Raiders went on an improbable 10-0 spurt to end the frame. Colgate benefited from two attacks errors and two blocking errors from the Leopards in that stretch en route to claiming the first set, 25-18.
The squads traded runs in the second set, which each team stringing together three or more points on several occasions up to an 18-18 deadlock. The Raiders' final run would prove to be the difference maker, however, as a 5-0 spurt put them just two points away from victory at 23-19. Lafayette would hang tough with three consecutive points late in the match, but could not overtake Colgate, which stood just one set away from victory after taking the second frame, 25-22.
Set three had the makings of a runaway early on, as Colgate jumped out to a comfortable 18-10 edge. The eight-point cushion held up to a 21-13 tally, when the Leopards staged a furious comeback. Led by kills from four different players in a 7-0 surge, the lead suddenly shrunk to a single point at 21-20. The Maroon and White would eventually knot the score at 23-23, but Colgate won the next rally to earn a match-point chance at 24-23. Lafayette fought off two match points, but could not string together consecutive tallies to gain the advantage. The third match-point try for the Raiders was successful, as they completed the sweep with a hard-fought 27-25 win.
Colgate's Maureen Colligan led all players with 11 kills and completed a double-double with 11 digs. Blaire Safir dished out 23 kills for the visitors, and Devon Applegate had four aces and a match-best 20 digs.
The Leopards will take a break from Patriot League on Tuesday, as NJIT travels to Easton. League play resumes in a big way on Thursday with a visit from historic rival Lehigh. First serve for both midweek contests is slated for 7 p.m.
