The Orange and Blue had their first Patriot League match at home in Davis Gym last Friday, Sept. 24. The Bison fell 3-0 to a strong Lafayette team. Lisa Zoch ’23 and Catherine Jamison ’24 both finished with double-digit kills, but that was not enough to keep the Orange and Blue ahead of the Leopards. 

The Bison are now 5-7 overall and 1-2 in the Patriot League. They were able to take the lead in two of the three sets, but the Leopards came back to grab all three wins. 

The Orange and Blue took the first four points and took an 8-1 lead in the first set. The Leopards responded with a 6-0 run to pull ahead of the Bison at 16-13. For the rest of the match, the Leopards maintained at least a two-point lead and took the first set with a 25-18 win.

The second set started off with the Bison and the Leopards sharing points back and forth, bringing the match to a tie at 10-10. The Leopards went on a 4-0 run and separated themselves from the Orange and Blue midway through the second set. The Bison fought hard to inch their way back, but the Leopards held onto the lead and won the second match with a score of 25-21.

The Bison started off the third set trailing 8-6, but then went on a 6-2 run. With the Orange and Blue up 12-10, the Leopards had to respond. They came back and claimed the next 12 of 13 points and won the set by eight points. In the third set, the Leopards posted a match high .441 hitting percentage.

The Bison had a similar match against Lehigh on Sunday falling 3-0 on the road in Grace Hall. The Orange and Blue fought hard against the Mountain Hawks, but were unable to pull away with a win in each of the three sets. 

“We fought hard this weekend but were unable to come out with a win. We have a lot of the pieces to win matches this year, but need to focus on putting them all together. Overall, I am really excited about this group and know we will continue to work hard in preparation for our next matches,” Vittoria Sottani ’22 said.

The Bison return home to Davis Gym next weekend to host Navy and American.