HAMILTON — Colgate Volleyball survived a first-set scare and then dominated the last two frames to celebrate its six seniors with a strong 3-0 victory over Lafayette on Friday night at Cotterell Court. 

Abby Shadwick paced the offense with 14 kills and a .303 hitting percentage. Milan Bayless (11) and Tiana Owens (10) were also in double-figures while Deren Cukur (22) and Sydney Jones (13) combined for 35 assists to Colgate's offense that posted a .321 hitting percentage.

Defensively the Raiders landed four total team blocks with two assists from Lal Akin. Taylor Cigna and Cukur led the team with 12 and 10 digs, respectively, while Colgate limited Lafayette to a .149 hitting percentage in its third-straight sweep. 

COACH BAKER'S COMMENTS

"Senior Night has a lot of emotion. I don't think we were totally here to start and credit Lafayette. They came out on fire and passed and served better than we did early on, but then we got better. Our offense picked up and we started finding ways to score which was really needed – especially in that first set. We're playing better volleyball. Our defense has picked up and our serving is slowly getting better as well, which are two things we've talked about down the stretch."

HOW IT HAPPENED

Set 1 | Colgate 28, Lafayette 26
Colgate got off to a slow start and Lafayette gave the Raiders all they could handle. The Leopards led for most of the opening frame until the Raiders chipped away and eventually drew even 16-16. It was a dog fight from there with each team earning a chance at set point. Colgate turned to senior Shadwick to seal the deal, with back-to-back kills giving the Raiders the 28-26 triumph.

Set 2 | Colgate 25, Lafayette 13
The Raiders found their rhythm in the second set and dominated to the tune of a .299 hitting clip while limiting Lafayette to a .160 percentage. Shadwick shined in the set with a team-high six kills, including two in a row during a 6-0 burst that gave the Raiders a convincing 20-8 lead. Ava Schabes and Erin Mueller landed service aces down the stretch to preserve the big victory.

Set 3 | Colgate 25, Lafayette 16
Bayless and Shadwick landed kills in a 4-0 surge that extended Colgate's lead to 14-8 in the third and final set. The Raiders hit a match-best .371 in the frame, led by five kills from first-year Julia Headley who posted an impressive .714 hitting clip. Bayless (4) and Shadwick (3) combined for seven kills to pave the way for Colgate's third-straight sweep.

UP NEXT
Colgate plays its final home match of the regular season on Saturday when the Raiders host Lehigh for a 3 p.m. contest.