Bucknell Volleyball Stumbles at Colgate, Loses 3-0
Oct. 31, 2008
HAMILTON, N.Y. – The Bucknell volleyball team suffered a scare to its hopes of qualifying for the Patriot League Tournament as it fell 3-0 to Colgate on Halloween night in Hamilton, N.Y. With the defeat, the Bison (10-16, 5-5) drop to fourth place in the league, while the Raiders (11-12, 6-4) take sole possession of third. Sophomore Heidi Kamp gave her best effort to help the Bison pull out a win, posting a team-high 10 kills and .500 hitting percentage (10-1-18). The middle blocker’s first kill helped to open the scoring for the Orange and Blue, making Colgate’s early lead 2-1. Senior Liz Hazuka followed on the next point with a service ace to tie the set, but Bucknell was unable to pull ahead. The Bison were hurt by a number of attack errors early and quickly found themselves down in the match. Senior Shannon Pitsch narrowed the scoring gap to five at 14-9 with her first of three kills off an assist by sophomore Rachel Rodriguez. A Raiders attack error saw the home-team advantage shrink to four, but Colgate soon recovered. Kelsea Loveless gave Colgate its first set point by blocking a Bison attacker, and Casey Ritt converted that set point with one of her 12 kills. The Raiders took set one, 25-13. Bucknell stayed close to Colgate through much of the second set, including earning its first lead at 2-1. Sophomore Kaitlin Segal posted a kill to even the score at 3. Hazuka earned the assist on the point, her first since 2006. As the Raiders started to pull ahead 6-3, freshmen Kyleigh McAhren and Anne Ellenberger teamed up for a block assist. Segal assisted on a Pitsch kill, and the lead was down to one. A kill by Kamp evened the set at eight, but Colgate regained its momentum. The Raiders pulled ahead on the next point as Loveless registered another kill. Their advantage continued to grow from there, and the set ended with the Raiders on top, 25-15.
Hazuka opened the final set with her fifth kill of the night, and the Bison soon were off to a 3-1 lead. Colgate was not willing to let Bucknell ruin its evening, however, and it eventually pulled ahead, 13-10 on a Bison attack error. Segal and Pitsch helped keep Colgate in check and hang in the match. Segal’s kill followed by Pitsch’s ace cut the Raider lead to one point. The Bison tied the set at 14 as senior Sheena Czipri assisted on a kill by Pitsch. They finally regained the lead at 15-14 with an ace by Segal. Both teams’ blocking games started to heat up at the end of the set, playing a key role in the contest’s outcome. After a solo block by Kamp, the Bison found themselves leading 21-18. Colgate responded with a block of its own a few points later, erasing all advantages and tying the score at 22. A Raider set point at 24-22, which was earned with a block, was erased with a block assist from Ellenberger and Pitsch. Bucknell could not create a final wall at net on the next point, however, and Colgate’s Ritt closed the match 25-23. In addition to her 24 assists on the night, Pitsch also led the Bison with eight digs. Segal and Rodriguez were close behind with seven digs each. Hazuka finished with seven kills, followed by six from McAhren and five from Segal. Colgate ended the match with two attackers hitting better than .400 in the match. Ritt led all Raiders with a .478 percentage (12-1-23), and Katrina Zawojski hit .444 (9-1-18). Meghan Fanta aided with many of those kills, totaling 36 assists on the night. She also had 11 digs, tying with teammate Jackie Adlam for a match-high. Bucknell head coach Cindy Opalski was eager to help the team put tonight’s match behind them and focus on the necessary preparations for the final stretch of the regular season. “We’re really struggling through some injuries that are hampering our ability to get good offensive production,” said Opalski. “We’re going to go back and really concentrate on the basics this week. We’re going to spend the weekend getting healthy and getting back on track to prepare for a couple of big matches next week.” The Bison are back in action when they take on Holy Cross at 7 p.m. on Friday, Nov. 7 and Army at 5 p.m. on Saturday, Nov. 8. Both matches will be played in Davis Gym, and live stats on GameTracker will be available through BucknellBison.com. |
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