The Bison volleyball team opened up Patriot League play last weekend, going 1-1 for the weekend at two away games. The Orange and Blue started the weekend at Army with a tough three-set defeat, but quickly bounced back to top Holy Cross in a four-set match. The Bison now sit at 5-6 on the season and 1-1 in the Patriot League.

On Friday, the Bison gave it their all against the reigning Patriot League champions, leading all three sets but ultimately falling just short of victory. In the first set, the Bison held Army to a seven-point lead, until the Black Knights rallied seven points of their own to tie the set 14-14. The Bison continued to fight, holding Army to set point at 26-25 before they converted another three points, ending the first set at 28-26 Army. The Bison came out strong again in the second set, but could not hold on as the Black Knights took their largest lead of the night, ending the second set 25-17 in Army’s favor. Even down 2-0, the Bison persevered, leading the third set 19-18. This was their final lead of the night however as Army took a 7-2 run to shut out the Bison 25-21.

Despite the loss, the Orange and Blue had many notable performances. Both Catherine Jamison ’24 and Libby Nieporte ’24 each had a high of 10 kills, closely followed by Lisa Zoch ’23 with eight kills. Sarah Ramirez ’24 led with 31 assists.

“Although it was a tough loss against Army, [they] competed at [their] highest level. [Army] is the best team in the league, and it was pretty head to head throughout,” Jamison said. 

It was a quick turnaround for the Bison, with the team traveling from Army to Holy Cross to face the Crusaders on Sept. 18. The Bison started off slow, allowing the Crusaders to ease past with a 8-1 run resulting in a 25-16 loss of the first set. But the Orange and Blue rebounded quickly, evening the match at 1-1 with a 25-20 second-set win. The third set ended the same as the second, after the Bison made two 5-1 runs, with three points from Jen Sivak ’25. The Bison left a statement in the fourth set of the match, winning by a margin of 10 at 25-15. 

Key performances for the Bison included a match and career high of 18 kills from Jamison, followed by Nieporte with nine kills and seven digs and Allie Lopez ’24 with seven kills and six block assists. 

When asked about their second result of the weekend, Jamison was much more upbeat, noting how everyone was “super excited about [their] first league win” and felt it “was a great weekend for the team.”

The Bison will look to keep their winning streak alive as they take on Lafayette in their home opener on Friday, Sept. 24 at 7 p.m., followed by another away match up on Sunday, Sept. 26 at 4 p.m. against Lehigh.