Last Friday night, Women’s Volleyball fought a hard battle against the Army Black Knights in three sets (21-25, 22-25, 23-25).
Army came out firing early in the first set. They managed to grab 7-2 and 10-4 leads. Army sat at a 14-11 lead, but the Bison managed to cut the gap after a 5-0 run, with two kills coming from Cat Jamison ’24. Army counterattacked the Bison’s comeback with an 8-2 run. Army managed to contain the lead for the rest of the set.
The second set started off evenly, both teams managing short runs to top the other until the game sat at an 8-8 tie. The Bison managed to go up 11-8 and, despite Army’s best efforts, they were unable to grasp the lead and the score jumped to 21-16. However, the Black Knights went on a 7-0 run to rip the lead out of the Bison’s hands. Army ended up winning the second set 25-22.
The Bison continued to fight hard in the final set of the game. Similar to the second set, both teams fought back and forth for the lead until the score was 6-6. Army was the first to push ahead after the tie and stretched the score to 15-10. Four Army attack errors fueled a much-needed 7-1 run from the Bison, who would capture their last lead. Army jumped on this and put themselves up 19-17. The Orange and Blue would manage to tie the score at 19-19 and 23-23 but an error and kill from Army would allow the Black Knights to capture the set (25-23) and the game.
Despite the loss, many Bison put up impressive stats. Jordan Hardy ’25 totaled 15 digs against Army, putting her at fifth all-time in Bison history. Jamison impressively added 11 kills.
The Orange and Blue were back on the court the following afternoon against another Patriot League opponent, the Colgate Raiders. Although it was a very hard-fought game from both sides, the Bison came up short and lost the match in four sets (11-25, 22-25, 25-22, 21-25).
Colgate came out strong in the first set of the game, establishing an 18-6 lead. The Bison managed to cut the gap to 21-11 but a mini run from the Raiders gave them the win. The second set looked more even and the Bison led early on. Jamison and Cameron Lloyd ’27 both contributed two kills to help put the Bison ahead. Colgate crept up on the Bison by cutting the deficit to 8-7 but the Orange and Blue responded with a 4-0. The Raiders fought hard to come back and eventually tied the game at 19-19 and then again at 21-21. A few points went back and forth but Colgate came out triumphant in the second set (25-22).
In the third set, the Bison put themselves ahead 7-4 and managed to hold onto the lead for the majority of the set. The Raiders closed this gap to 23-21 and were ready to steal the set from the Bison. However, an error from Colgate and a kill from Jamison helped the Bison win the third match and extend the game into a fourth.
The fourth and most exciting set had both teams coming out hot. The Bison managed to get the first lead and were up 14-12 before the Raiders snatched it back. Once again the lead was back in the Bison’s hands as they grabbed a 16-15 lead before Colgate took it back and went up 18-16. Colgate pushed the lead to 20-18. A promising 3-0 run for the Bison gave them the momentum they needed, but Colgate responded with a 5-0 run to win the set (25-21) and game.
The Bison will be seen next on the road as they make their way east to face Lehigh and Lafayette this weekend.
