HAMILTON – In another five-set marathon, Colgate saw a 2-0 lead and 24-18 match-point margin slip away as UConn rallied to win the final three sets in a comeback win over the Raiders on Friday night at Cotterell Court.

Abby Shadwick racked up 19 kills and a .310 hitting percentage in Colgate's second five-set match of the season. Carlie Rzeszotarski (12) and Gillian Hauschild (10) also recorded double-digit kills. The Raiders hit .247 as a team to UConn's .280 clip. 

COACH BAKER'S COMMENTS

"This one definitely hurts. We had quite a few chances to close out some sets and couldn't find a way. Give credit to UConn as they kept fighting and never let down. We quickly need to figure things out and get ready to go at it again tomorrow."

HOW IT HAPPENED 

Set 1 | Colgate 27, UConn 25
Colgate came out red-hot in front of its home crowd, hitting .350 in the first set. Shadwick landed two kills in a 4-0 spurt that gave the Raiders an 11-10 edge. UConn answered the home rally and eventually held a 22-20 lead but Colgate did not go away. Back-to-back kills from Frances Torres evened the match at 23-23 and 24-24. With the frame extended to extras, Rzeszotarski put the set away with a kill down the line to seal the comeback, 27-25. 

Set 2 | Colgate 25, UConn 20
The Raiders once again used their offensive firepower in the second set, doubling up UConn in kills 18-9. Colgate was rolling with a 17-10 lead after a block from Torres and Lal Akin but the Huskies found a 4-1 spurt to trim the Colgate lead to 22-19. The Raiders did not let the lead slip away, as kills from Shadwick, Rzeszotarski, and Hauschild closed the frame, 25-20. 

Set 3 | UConn 25, Colgate 23 
A back-and-forth third set did not go Colgate's way and UConn held off the Raiders' bid for a sweep. Colgate opened a 16-12 advantage and had everything working but a 4-0 response by the Huskies brought the visitors back into the match. UConn eventually drew even 22-22 and eventually led 24-23 before a Colgate attack error gave the Huskies the frame, 25-23. 

Set 4 | UConn 28, Colgate 26
Colgate blitzed out to a 12-4 lead and had the victory in sight with a comfortable 24-18 margin down the stretch. While facing match point, UConn completely tilted the momentum with seven unanswered points bookended by back-to-back kills from Emma Werkmeister to lead 25-24. The Raiders survived set point twice but consecutive kills from Grace Maria sealed the set, 28-26, for UConn.

Set 5 | UConn 15, Colgate 8
In the fifth and final frame, the Raiders shrugged off the stunning set 4 upset and regained their footing with an early 4-2 lead thanks to a kill from Akin. UConn was not going to be denied, however, scoring a pair of 3-0 runs to take a 9-6 lead. Colgate closed within 9-7 before the Huskies put the match away with a 5-0 run to complete the reverse sweep. 

UP NEXT
Colgate (0-4) reunites with Julia Kurowski '22, now an assistant coach for Buffalo, when the Raiders host the Bulls in Game 2 of the Ellis Rowland Memorial on Saturday at 5 p.m. UConn and Stony Brook square off in the first game of the day at 2 p.m.