Volleyball Starts Fast but Suffers Tough 3-1 Loss to Colgate

LEWISBURG, Pa. – The Bucknell volleyball team got off to a great start in its match with Colgate on Saturday, but gave up too many big runs in later sets in a 3-1 loss. The Bison, who had won back-to-back matches against Patriot League opponents, fell by scores of 20-25, 26-24, 25-23, 25-16.

The Bison dropped to 4-12 overall and 3-5 in the conference. The Raiders, who were playing a Patriot League opponent for the third consecutive day, improved to 10-7 overall and 4-3 in league play.

“Colgate is a very strong team. They have very good players and a lot of depth,” Bucknell head coach Anna Allison said. “The good thing is we play them again Saturday, so we will work on a lot of the things we need to work on this week.”

Bucknell picked up right where it left off over the weekend with a 25-20 win in the first set. Erika Eastley and Jordan Walker had four kills apiece to help the Bison take a 1-0 lead It was the seventh straight set won by the Bison, who were coming off sweeps of Lafayette and Loyola (Md.).
It looked like the Bison were on their way to a third consecutive win as they kept the momentum going early in the second set. They went up 9-3 on a kill by Hailey Stout and still had the Raiders' score doubled at 10-5 following another kill by Stout. Both were set up with assists by Meghan Wentzel.

Bucknell kept the lead for most of the set, but Colgate inched closer and closer until it tied the score at 23-23 on a kill by Diane Seely, and took the lead on an attack error. The Bison extended the set with a combined block by Kristen Gelenitis and Karen Campbell, but the Raiders took a 2-1 lead in the match thanks to back-to-back kills by Seely and Kathleen Harris.

In the third set it was Bucknell's turn to make a comeback attempt. The Bison trailed by as much as five (18-13) before cutting the deficit to one (24-23) on a ball-handling error by Colgate late in the set. But the Raiders came through again to take a 2-1 lead.

The fourth and final set seemed like it may go the same way as the first with Bucknell jumping out to an 11-5 lead, capped by a kill from Eastley. But Colgate responded with a 9-0 run to take a 14-11 lead. The Bison called a timeout and came back with a point before the Raiders clinched the match by scoring 11 of the final 15 points.

“We did a really good job to come out strong in the first set and to start the second set, as well,” Allison said. “We have been talking to the team a lot about the need to adapt and to keep doing the things that are working for us, and doing that consistently. In a lot of crucial points we really showed the signs of a young team. We didn't adjust quickly enough. We need the maturity to be able to respond and make a decision in that half a second you have to respond when the ball is coming at you.”

Eastley paced the Bison with 12 kills and six block assists. She also contributed two of the team's impressive nine service aces. Wentzel and Hana Sawanobori also had two aces. Stout joined Eastley with 12 kills, Wentzel finished with 37 assists, and Kristen Parks led the team with 21 digs.

Kathleen Harris topped Colgate in both kills (16) and digs (21). Kate Reilly and Seely reached double digits with 11 and 10 kills, respectively, while Jackie Macy tallied 35 assists.

Bucknell has now played each team in the conference. It will start the second half of the league slate when it travels to play Colgate on Saturday.