Volleyball
Season Preview
Last years season was seen as a big step up year for the 'Gate. It was the second year under a new head coach, Dorinda von Tersch, and she wanted to expose Colgate to the highest level of competition, which they did by facing 3 top 10 teams and the #1 team in our NCAA tournament region. The Red Raider's have lost thier star player, but are still returning a quality team, with last years expereiences and growth to build off of. This years schedule doesn't look as intense as last years, with only one opponent in the preseason top 25. Colgate's goal is to win the Patriot League again and making it back to the tournament.
Leading the way will be senior, Laura Rohrbacher. Laura was an all league selection last year and is among the nations best in shot blocking. She is dependable on offense and a natural leader. Colgate's biggest offensive talent will be Lisa Breiner. Lisa is a legitimate contender to be Colgate's leader in career kills by the end of this, her senior year. Amanda Routman was a major force on offense last year, despite it being her freshman season. She is well on her way to being a star player, with the extra years experience, she should be a player to watch. Michelle Mahaney will join Rohrbacher at captain this season. Last season was the first one where she made significant contributions to the team. Her strong work ethic has started to pay off and she will only be better this season. Joining them will be several other Red Raider's most of them who have seen significant playing time in the past. Colgate's freshman may also make a difference. The class of 2004 is highlighted by Mandy Spence, a Gatorade player of the year from Connecticuit.
With Judy Culhane, last years female Golden Gate's MVP out of the picture, how will Colgate fare. They have a Patriot Leauge Coach of the year leading them. The coach's preseason poll has Colgate out in front by just one pont over Army. Army is returning some top players and is said to have a very good recruiting class. The league will be competitive again this year. Last season Colgate was involved in a three way tie for first with a 9-3 record. In the league finals they ousted Navy in a marathon game. Last season was a very tough one for Colgate, but they rose to the occasion, even when they didn't win. The memories and lessons learned from last season will stick with the 9 returning letterwinners. The loss of a star will hurt any team, but Colgate has the confidence and expereince to have a very good season.
September 1st - At Temple
Game Preview
Temple is returning 5 of thier starters and a Atlantic 10 championship team. They likewise, met defeat in the first round of the NCAA tournament last season.
Pre Game
It's the first game for both these teams, let's see where we stand.
Results
Colgate didn't get started off on the best foot possible. The competiton just proved to be a step above, and Colgate was unable to rise to the occasion. The Red Raider's get ousted 3 sets to none with scores of 4-15, 0-15 and 3-15.
September 1st - Vs Ohio State
@ Temple
Game Preview
The Buckeye's play in a very tough league and have played big opponents on many occasions. 4 starters are returning, and thier sophmore class will be thier highlighted players. The two teams have never met before, but this is a game to take very seriously.
Pre Game
Ohio was ranked 25th in the coaches preseason poll. This will also be the second game of the day for Colgate, but Ohio's first.
Results
The Buckeye's would go on to win this tournament. Lisa Breiner led the team with 8 kills, with Amanda Routman right behind her with 6. When your playing a better team, the numbers are just going to be against you. Compare a .234 hitting percentage for Ohio to Colgate's .038. Colgate held it's own in blocks, but was out digged by a 2-1 ratio. The Buckeye defense was just overwhelming, and made 11 aces on a serve. It just wasn't Colgate's day 3-15, 2-15, 8-15, all for Ohio.
September 2nd - At Seton Hall
Game Preview
Seton Hall has also been swept by Temple and Ohio State
Results
Colgate was able to put up a pretty good fight. Colgate dropped the first game 4-15, but battled up to 12-15 in the second and third games to get swept, but play competitivly.
September 5th - Syracuse 7 pm
Game Preview
Last years Orangewomen surprised a lot of people and advanced to the Big East semi finals. They won two matches against the Red Raider's as well 3-0 and 3-2 later in the season.
Pre Game
Syracuse also enters this game with a 0-3 record. They have gone to 5 sets each time though. Colgate might have had a slightly higher level of competition. I would call us the underdogs, but I think Colgate will win it's first set.
Results
Another game that didn't go our way. This is the first time I got to see the team play, and I think that it's the little things that are keeping the team back. Hopefully time will help give Colgate more flow and they can iron out the details. Colgate had a tendancy to quickly fall behind, and when they were playing very well, it was usaully to late. I call it the 3/4th problem. On any given play, they are doing everythign 75% just as well or better than thier oppoents, but every mistake has been a costly one. We are dealing with a challenging schedule and the team is going to need a little more time to adjust. Colgate once again losses in 3 sets 8-15, 10-15, 5-15.
September 8th - Vs Oklahoma
@ Montana State
Game Preview and pregame
Oklahoma prizes itself on it's offensive. They are coming into this game with a 4-0 record.
Results
I bet Colgate is looking foward to the start of the Patriot League schedule, at this point, even though it might not be thier fault, their confidence cannot be too high. Colgate losses 0-3 once again, with scores of 4-15, 4-15 and 8-15.
September 9th - Vs Montana
Game preview and pregame
The Bobcats are very optimistic about this years campain. They have several top seniors returning, and are hoping for a banner year and a Big Sky Conference title. With strong offense, and awesome defense, and more good freshman joining the team, things can be a little tough.
Results
It's very hard to play up to your full potential right now if you are Colgate. They have had a lot of games in a short period of time, and haven't been winning. Today was no different. Montana went on to win the tournament. With a very consitant and solid team they won 3-15, 0-15 and Colgate put in its best performance in the last game, losing 7-15.
September 9th - Vs Utah State
@ Montana State
Game Preview and pregame
They are 2-2 entering this weekend. This will be the second game of the day and third of the tournament for them.
Results
Colgate played a very determined game, but a victory was once again out of reach. The first set was close, with Colgate losing 11-15, but they lost the next two 6-15. Colgate has a few days to regroup before yet another tournament next weekend.
September 15th - Vs Morehead State
@ Pennslyvania
Game Preview
Morehead is a school that has been rebuilding it's program, and hopes this will be the year it pays off. 3 starters return from last years team, which went 5-25 last season. They are a young team, that should be improving though.
Results
Colgate put in a strong showing early. But when you are on a losing streak, once you start to fall behind it's tough to get back. Colgate gets swept again, 10-15, 3-15, 6-15.
September 15th - Vs Drexel
@ Pennslyvania
Game Preview
Drexel is coming off it's first season with a new coach where they scored a 10-22 total record. Defense continues to be the strongpoint for Drexel, and the sophomore coach thinks she has a better understanding of her team and is ready to make some improvements.
Results
Drexel took a hard fought first set, and then no more! Colgate had 16 aces on the night, they took sets 2 and 3, and set 4 was a real battle, Colgate was attacking well, and when Drexel pushed them, they responded. Colgate wins!!! 12-15, 15-14, 15-4, 16-14
September 16th - at Pennslyvania
Game Preview
Last year, these two teams met at Colgate's tournement, with Colgate getting a 2-3 win. Penn has invited us to thier tournament, and wants to return the favor. Penn is looking for it's three juniors to lead the team.
Results
I'm still trying to learn how to read the stats sheets, but we probally shouldn't have had a negative attack percentage. Other stats tell the story as wel, getting out blocked 4-1, out aced 6-1, twice as many service errors, it just wasn't Colgates top game, another sweep, 5-15, 6-15, 4-15, all in favor of the home team.
September 16th - Vs Youngstown
@ Pennslyvania
Game Preview
A 27 and 5 record last season tied them for the conference title. They think of themselves as being a top team now, and want to defend that honor. Leading that fight will be 5 returning starters from last year.
Results
The Red Raiders did a great job capitalizing on mistakes, and made this game very good. They were blocking well, but Youngstown played great defense as well. They outlasted Colgate to win 13-15, 10-15, 6-15
September 16th - Vs Elon
@ Pennslyvania
Game Preview
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Results
Colgate played a very good game, they changed up the lineup a little, working some new people in for more points, and they responded to the challenge. The defense was there, the attack was there, the serves were there. Unfortunatly, the errors were too numerous to allow Colgate the offensive flow they needed to win. This one went 4 games 13-15, 15-10, 5- 15, 9-15.
September 22nd - Vs Robert Morris
Results
Colgate won the first two games in close contests, then finished strong to take the final game and match. Routman, Breiner and Mahaney led the attack with 18, 13 and 11 kills. The defense was there when Colgate needed it the most and the Red Raiders take thier second match of the year 15-13, 15-13 and 15-3.
September 23rd - At Towson
Results
22 errors on the attack and 10 on serves can hurt any teams chances of winning. The most consistant attacker was Laura Rohrbacher, with 10 kills and only two attack errors, she also blocked one shot and was second on the team with 5 digs. Colgate improved each game, but fell in 3, 6-15, 7-15, 9-15.
September 23rd - Vs Radford
@ Towson
Results
This game was played poorly by both sides. Radford made multiple mistakes, but Colgate made more. The blocking game proved to be the Red Raider's specialty tonight. We were out blocking them by almost 3-1. Service errors slowed the momentum for both teams, but in the end it was Colgate to come up short. We took them to the 4th game though after winning the first game. 15-8, 5-15, 7-15, 12-15.
September 30th - Navy
Game Preview
Navy proved to be Colgate's biggest league competition last year, they played several exciting games, and Colgate beat them out for the league title. Where we lost our top player, they lost thier top two players, both superstars. This earned them a 5th place ranking in the preseason coaches poll. Thier schedule for the early part of the season is about as tough as you can get, so this should be another exciting match.
Pre Game
Colgate returns home for the rematch, with a renewed outlook on the season. Navy has also survived a tough non league schedule, and just last night they dropped thier league opener to Bucknell in 3 games. It's been tough to scout Navy, they have been somewhat inconsistant as well. They have made many errors, but thier coach thinks that overall their game has improved as a result of the tough competition. Thier attack average is at about 10% success, thier service aces and errors are about the same. They have been doing well on defense, considering the level of competiton. This is going to be a very exciting game.
Results
Colgate came out swinging and kept the momentum going. We eliminated a lot of mistakes from our game, and our balanced offense was able to keep Navy on the defensive. Navy proved to be pesky at a few points in the game, and it looked like they had a chance to win one, but the Red Raiders kept going to win thier first league game of the year 15-5, 15-12, 15-11
October 3rd - Bucknell
Game Preview and Pre game
Bucknell has been selected to finish 3rd in the league after thier 5-7 league record last year. They are returning 2 all league second team selections, and should be moving up. They are currently 5-11 in the league, but most recently have ousted Navy 3 games to 0 as well, with very comprable stats. This will be a game where the team that makes fewer mistakes will walk out the winner..
Results
Bucknell made fewer mistakes, and they walked out the winner. Colgate fought very hard in sets two and three, after winning the second one, they narrowly lost the third. The Red Raiders have not had many long games this year, and the loss in set 3 must have taken a lot out of thier confidence. They were only able to garner up 1 point in the 4th game to lose the match 1 game to 3. This was also one of the longest games Colgate has played in. It was an unfortunate loss. The Red Raiders have a shot at redemtion in the final game of the regular season, but lose this one, 7-15, 15-13, 14-16, 1-15.
October 6th - At Holy Cross
Game Preview and pregame
The Crusaders were picked to finish 6th in the league after a 2-10 league record last year. It would not be a strech for them to move up, they have returned all their starters. Thier early season has had mixed results, but they are currently 1-1 in the league as well. So this game will really help both teams vie for positioning. So far this season, they have had two league defensive players of the week..
Results
This is the sort of game you want to see Colgate play. Every game was close, but Colgate toughed it out to win the first three. Colgate was still making errors, but they were attacking very well, and were tenacious on defense. Holy Cross just could not figure out our attack, and that gave us the win 15-13, 15-13, 15-11.
October 7th - At Army
Game Preview and pregame
Army has been pretty successful early in the season. They return 5 starters and ahve been predicted to finish second in the league, being edged out by Colgate by just a point. Army was surprised 3-0 by Lehigh, but took out Lafayette so far in league play..
Results
This was one of Colgate's most mistake free offensive attempts yet this season. It was just the defense that was costing them this game. A full 15 Army points were aces. It was a good game for Colgate, but not enough to win a game, Colgate loses, 6-15, 5-15, 11-15.
October 13th - Lafayette
Game Preview and Pre Game .
The Leopards are having one of those seasons, you know what I'm saying? They are at the very bottom of the league. They have won just 4 sets all year coming into tonights game. The only PL team they came close to was Holy Cross. They are at the bottom of all the statistical catergories. They are a bad team, and Colgate will beat them very badly. They were picked to finish last in the league this season, but hope to improve on last years record.
Results
Did I say "very" badly? Ok, maybe we should have, but we didn't. Colgate didn't seem to be concentrating enough later into the game, but they were outplaying the Leopards. Lafayette didn't have much of an attack, we had several blocked shots. Sometimes it just looked like we were going for too much, all or nothing serves, and Amanda Routman looked like she was going to kill someone with one of her spikes, they were amazing, but most just hit the net. Colgate was winning, but they didn't have the momentum most of the game. We win in 4 games... 16-14, 15-7, 8-15, 15-2.
October 14th - Lehigh
Game Preview and Pre Game
This is going to be a good test for Colgate. Lehigh was picked to finish 3rd in the preseason poll, but they currently occupy the top spot with a 4-1 record. They've got just one senior on this years squad, but they are returning the leagues rookie of the year and some other good players. The only leauge loss of the year for them has come against Navy. They are an offensive team, and you can't count on as many errors out of them once they serve. This is going to be an important game.
Results
Not a bad job at all. Lehigh put up a good fight in game one, jumping out to an early lead. After that it was all Red Raider's. Lehigh just could not defend against all the weapons in Colgate's aresenal, three players reached double digits in the kills column. The win puts Colgate in a tie for first place in the league along with...Lehigh.
October 20th - At Navy
Pregame
Navy is back for more. Colgate defeated them in the first game of the season, and Navy is currently sitting in 5th place with a 3-3 record. They need to climb into the top 4 to go to the tournament. Since the last game, they have gone 4-1. Colgate played very well last time, they will need to do the same against their league rivals to complete the regular season sweep.
Results
The Red Raiders used a balanced attack to defeat Navy in 4 games today. Navy just could not find thier stride on offense. Amanda Routman led the team with 15 kills and 16 digs. Colgate dominated in most aspects of the game, but could have ended it a lot faster if our service was a bit more dependable. Colgate took games 1, 2 and 4 to win 15-7, 15-10, 7-15, 15-8
October 24th - At Syracuse
Results
Colgate was just no match for the offensive attack they were facing. Colgate was not able to find any consistnacy on the attack either and went down quietly 7-15, 6-15, 4-15.
October 27th - Army
Results
Another exciting game, with the defensive skills dominating. Army just edged out Colgate though, they had a better attack percentage and fewer errors. It seemed that at each point wore on, Army became more likey to win it. They won most of the long volleys. Colgate started each game fast, then tailed off. It was a winable game, but Army was playing with more focus tonight, and wins in 4..12-15, 9-15, 15-6, 3-15
October 28th - Holy Cross.
Results
Colgate was deadly on the attack, absolutly overpowering. The ball just kept going where we wanted it to go. Holy Cross struggled to keep up with us, but could not seem to get anything working for them. Colgate improves to 6-3 in teh league after wininning, 15-6, 15-5, 15-5
November 3rd - At Lehigh
Pregame
The battle for the league crown wages on. Colgate is currently in 2nd, while Lehigh is close behind in 3rd. The Red Raiders took the first match, a win here will make that gap very hard to close.
Results
What a defensive struggle! 76 digs for each team. Michele Mahaney stepped it up to play a big game tonight. The match would just go three games, but each one of them were hard fought, Colgate wins 15-13, 15-11, 15-11.
November 4th - At Lafayette
Results
Colgate breezed through the Leopards, dominating them with a strong offense. Colgate had a 44% attack rate! Um, thats ver good. This game would have been over in under an hour if not for 16 service errors. Colgate wins 15-5, 15-9, 15-10.
November 7th - At Cornell
Results
After a strong first game, the Red Raider's fell apart and lost to the Big Red. Colgate prolonged the first game, by out attacking Cornell by a wide margin, but Colgate also out mistaked the big red, leading to a 2 point loss. The second and third games were all Cornell. The final in three...14-16, 6-15, 7-15
November 11th - At Bucknell
Results
This game would determine who would enter the tournament as the regular season champions. 2 of the games were sent to extra points, neither team played very cleanly, total errors for Colgate, 51. And for the Bison, 53 over the course of 4 games,ladies and gentlemen, here are the top two teams in the Patriot League! Amanda Routman led the Red Raider's with 17 kills and 18 digs. Lisa Breiner also recorded 17 kills. Colgate just comes up shy here, and now will need to once again face the Bison on thier home court to win the league crown. Colgate losses in 4, 14-16, 15-10, 9-15, 14-16.
November 18th - Army
At Patriot League Championship tournament.
Game Preview and Pre Game
Colgate earns the second seed for the league tournament. Standing between the Red Raiders and the finals, the Army Cadets. Army has had Colgate's number this year, beating the Red Raiders in 6 out of 7 games. Will the Red Raider's be able to overcome this and topple the Cadets? Army has won 7 of it's last games. The last meeting between these two teams was an exciting defensive struggle. Army is second in the league in blocks, second in digs. Colgate is third in the league in service aces and first in blocks. The winner of this game advances to the finals and face the winner of Bucknell/Lehigh.
Results
Colgate works hard all game, and it pays off! I'll try to pretend I'm not surprised by beating Army, but I am. I don't want to take anything away from either team, both the previous games were played very well by both sides. Colgate turned it up a notch offensively, and Army couldn't handle the shots they were facing. The Red Raider's cruised through the first set, won a very tough second, lost the third, then put things away in game 4. 4 players reached double figures in both kills and digs. Colgate was getting very good placement on thier shots, and Army wasn't able to defend against them. Colgate led in the digs catergory 75-41. With the 15-8, 16-14, 13-15, 15-6 win, Colgate advances to the finals to meet host Bucknell.
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