FORT COLLINS, Colo. — To start their 2025 campaign, the Colgate Raiders were defeated by Colorado State in three straight sets at Moby Arena. 

COACH BAKER'S COMMENTS

• "This one hurts for many reasons. Colorado State outplayed us in all areas. Credit to their coaches, players, and fans for completely taking us out of our game. They had us rattled. Our discipline and execution were lacking in all areas and that's on me. The team was not ready for this moment, but fortunately we have more matches ahead of us. We need to reset quickly and get ready for another tough match."

HOW IT HAPPENED
Set 1

• Colorado State claimed the first point of the series but Colgate's Milan Bayless had a rebuttal with a kill of her own to put the Raiders on the board, 1–1. 
• Julia Oster captured a service ace to put the Raiders up 2–1. 
• The Rams went on a seven-point run to create an 8–2 cushion. 
• The two teams traded points back and forth keeping the match within reach with Colorado State leading, 15–11.
• The Rams earned five consecutive points to take a 20–11 lead.
• Colgate had a four-point mini-run themselves, including kills from Lal Akin, Deren Cukur, and Tiana Owens. 
• Colorado State took set 1, 25–18.

Set 2

• The teams traded points as the set was kept close for a majority of the time. 
• Owens notched four kills to help the Raiders stay aggressive as they were trailing behind, 9–8. 
• The Rams went on a 10-point run with four kills coming from their outside hitter, Maria Brun, to take a comfortable 23–13 lead.
• The Raiders picked up one more point from a Ram service error but Colorado State closed out the second set securing the next two points to win 25–14.

Set 3

• Colgate earned the first point of the third set but Colorado State earned 10 unanswered points to take a 10–1 lead. Brun led the offensive charge for all 10 points. 
• The Raiders began chipping away at the deficit, earning six points to the Rams' one to trail 11–7. 
• Colorado State, with another offensive outburst, added eight unanswered points to extend their lead, 19–7.
• Going back and forth, the Rams took set number three to conclude the match 25–10. 

GAME NOTES

• Owens led the team in kills with six and contributed two assists. 
• Cukur provided a strong performance for the Raiders with a perfect hitting percentage of 1.000, recording three kills on three attempts and adding 12 assists.
• Julia Headley also achieved a 1.000 hitting percentage with two kills on two attempts.
• Frances Torres contributed defensively with four block assists.
• Oster, Jordyn Moore, and Sydney Raszewski made their Raider debuts. 

UP NEXT
Continuing in Colorado, the Colgate Raiders (0–1) will travel to Greeley, Colo. to face Northern Colorado in Bank of Colorado Arena on Saturday, August 30 at 8 p.m. EST.