The American University volleyball team (8-4) lost in five sets to the Colgate Raiders (6-5) on Sept. 19 in Bender Arena. This contest saw the Eagles match defending Patriot League champion Raiders in nearly every statistical category from the third set on. In the first game of its Patriot League schedule, the Eagles came dangerously close to knocking off Colgate.
American entered this match on a low note, coming off of a three-set rout at the hands of the Howard Bison on Sept. 14. Meanwhile, Colgate beat the Syracuse Orange twice in a 24-hour span, each match in that home-and-home series going to four sets.
Colgate also had an outstanding player on their side of the net: 2024 AVCA All-American Honorable Mention and 2025 Preseason Patriot League Player of the Year, junior outside hitter Milan Bayless.
The Eagles came out swinging in the first set, finding holes in Colgate’s defense early in the match. They took a 4-3 lead and held onto it for dear life, forcing three errors from Bayless to jump out to a 13-6 lead before the Raiders could blink.
Colgate brought the score back, making it a 2-point set at 18-16 before the Eagles found a run. This 3-1 run, bookended by kills from sophomore outside hitter Salme Adeele Hollas and sophomore middle blocker Elise Sterling, respectively, forced a Colgate timeout and allowed American to hit their groove for the rest of the set.
The rest of the set passed quietly, with American forcing a Colgate error to close it out, 25-22.
Colgate wasn’t going to let a first set loss define them, and they blasted through the Eagles’ defense in the second set. The Raiders’ adjustments proved too much for the Eagles, who only posted 7 points in the first 13 of the set, and let up another 12-5 run to close the set.
Colgate’s defensive efforts and adjustments on offense were enough to overwhelm American in the second set, tying the match overall at 1 set apiece.
American responded in the third set, taking hold of their first lead since the end of the first set with an ace from sophomore libero Bella Marrero. The Raiders and Eagles traded points for the majority of the set after that point, neither team able to get out to more than a 3-point lead until the closing moments of the set.
Junior outside hitter Prinzez Zeck came alive towards the end of the set, a stiff block from her and another Marrero ace putting American up 4. Colgate fought to get the set to extra points, but consecutive kills from Hollas and Sterling stopped the Raiders’ effort, a 26-24 set win for American to go up 2-1.
The start of the fourth set looked similar to the second set, with Colgate’s offense overpowering the Eagles, and its defense stifling anything American got started. Down 6 with Colgate on set point, American’s fighting spirit kicked in, forcing two attack errors on Colgate and benefitting from a third, with two kills from Zeck intermingled to bring the Eagles within 2. However, Colgate’s blocking prowess returned in the final point of the set, spurring American’s comeback and sending the match to its fifth set.
Neither team held more than a 2-point lead in the fifth set. The margin for error, the difference between a win and a loss in the match, was razor-thin. Both teams brought everything they had and more in the fifth set, including three kills and an ace from freshman outside hitter Sophie Dufour, matched by three kills from Bayless on Colgate’s side of the court.
With both teams exhausted in the fifth set, the match would likely come down to who had serve for match point, which fell into the hands of the Raiders. One final kill from Colgate iced the match, a 3-2 loss for American.
Bayless ended the match with 22 kills, leading all players.
Dufour led American with 18 kills on the day, followed by 14 from Zeck and 10 from Sterling. Dufour also landed 6 of American’s 8 total aces on the day — the other 2 from Marrero, who led the team in digs on the day with 26. Sophomore setter Deniz Dakak’s 50 assists led both teams on the day.
“In set four, the difference was inches. They’re the preseason number one, defending champions, and we were missing just by this much,” head coach Ahen Kim said after the match.
Apart from blocks, the overall stats for both teams were similar, Colgate leading by 10 points, 5 kills and 5 assists. Colgate was picked by all but one coach in the Patriot League’s preseason poll to win the league.
“At the end of the day, as crummy as that feeling was, I’m really encouraged by where we’re at,” Kim said.
American continues its home stand on Sept. 26 against the Navy Midshipmen.
This article was edited by Matthias Jaylen Sandoval, Penelope Jennings and Walker Whalen. Copy editing done by Sabine Kanter-Huchting and Ariana Kavoossi.
