HAMILTON, N.Y. — The reigning Patriot League volleyball champions gear-up for the 2025 season. Colgate's volleyball team finished first in the Patriot League with a conference record of 14–2 for a .875 win-percentage. Overall the team finished 19–11, five out of the 11 losses went to five sets.

"The expectations are always high in our program right now," said head coach Ryan Baker. "With our past success and things that we discuss in the recruiting process, I think anyone who's coming to our program expects to be competing for championships, which is a good thing. I'd rather be on that side of things than the other side. They practice hard and we talk about challenging each other because you need to be ready for the moment. Everyone's going to bring the most fans and everyone's going to have their best match against us, so nothing will come easy for this group. We know that and are embracing that."

The team had a veteran squad graduate in the 2024 season. Three graduate students and six seniors embarking on their next journey. Exiting in that line-up was former Patriot League First-Team selection Abby Shadwick and Second-Team selection Sydney Jones. 

Despite a large graduating class, Maddie Rudolph, Rachel Martinez, and Carlie Rzszotarski, the trio of seniors, have stepped up to lead the team by example. 

"I've been very impressed with our current seniors," Baker mentioned. "I think Maddie, Carly, and Rachel have really taken on a huge leadership role, which I'm very proud of them. They started it last spring and I think they've done a great job filling the void. I also think I've seen some great leadership from Milan and Francis as well. Those five I think have risen to the top, but we don't have captains. We believe that the juniors and seniors should have raised them to be leaders and that they have the responsibility to uphold the standards of the program as juniors and seniors. Overall we've always had a shared model and in the last five six years it's worked really well for us. "

The Raiders' retained the Patriot League Play of the Year, Milan Bayless, and Patriot League Second-Team member Tiana Owens. Along with the addition of five first-years to the 2025 roster. 

Bayless had a breakout season in her sophomore year. She finished second in the Patriot League with 391 points and tied-second with 340 kills on the season. Still in the top five in Patriot League standings, Bayless finished fourth in the league in kills per set (3.24) and fifth in points per set (3.72). She finished with double-digit kills in 21-out-of-30 matches throughout the season. The rising junior also notched a career-high 25 kills and 27.5 points in the match against American (10/26). Bayless was recognized as the Patriot League Player of the Week on September 24, 2024 for recording 42 kills in three matches to help Colgate pick up two wins that week. 

Owens taking the court as a first-year made an instant impact on the team. Owens finished 10th in the Patriot League with a .262 hitting percentage. For team stats, she finished fourth within the team in kills (160), points (184.5), kills per set (1.86), and block assists (49). Owens was deemed Patriot League Rookie of the Week on Oct. 15 from two stellar performances over Loyola and Bucknell for Colgate to go 2–0 on the week. In those games she totaled 25 kills and seven block assists for a total of 28.5 points. 

Baker, unfazed entering a new season with a new lineup, carries the same set of goals and is looking to achieve more with the program. 

"Goals for us is just that we are playing consistently a strong level of volleyball," stated Baker "It's a huge piece for us and that we're playing an aggressive style this year of volleyball. It's very different from what we played in the last four years as far as just style. We're able to do some really great things with the type of athletes we have in the gym which is a really fun brand of volleyball to watch. I think we're extending rallies and we're a little we're grittier on defense. Off the court, I take a lot of pride and they do that because we're involved in the community. We've had a lot of fans attend our match and we have a reputation to uphold as a program that our players are engaged in the community that the community wants to be around them. Also academically, we are achieving some great things in the classroom. We try to have a holistic model where it's not just volleyball it's not just school and it's not just after it's everything all together."

The Colgate women's volleyball team has made 27 tournament appearances and won nine championships in program history. They are currently on a four-peat and look to extend their longest conference championship streak yet. 

The Raiders will embark in non-conference play on August 29 as they will travel to Colorado to face Colorado State on Friday, Aug. 29, The University of Northern Colorado on Saturday, Aug. 30, followed by Washington on Sunday, Aug. 31.