HAMILTON, N.Y. - One week after scoring the last four points of a five-set win over Bucknell, the Navy volleyball team allowed Colgate to score the final three points in the fifth set to give the Raiders a 16-14 win in the frame and the match, Friday night at Cotterell Court in Hamilton, N.Y. Colgate previously won the first (25-19) and third (25-16) sets in the match, with Navy winning the second (25-20) and fourth (25-22) sets.

Navy (5-8, 2-2 Patriot League) couldn't have asked for a better start to the fifth set than it received as the Mids jumped out to a 6-1 lead over Colgate (7-6, 1-2). The Mids soon built six-point cushions at 9-3 and 10-4 before the Raiders closed to within two points at 11-9. A kill by Katie Sylakowski (Jr., Escondido, Calif.) pushed the margin back to three points, 12-9, but consecutive Navy attack errors and a Colgate kill tied the score at 12-12.

The teams traded sideouts (13-13), then Rachel Fortner (Fr., Villa Hills, Ky.) posted a kill to give the Mids a 14-13 lead. Colgate answered with a kill by Kate Reilly to tie the score, then a service ace gave the Raiders a 15-14 advantage. They would win the match on a kill from Katie Fauntleroy.

"Colgate became really assertive at the right time for them," said Navy head coach Larry Bock, whose team also lost in five sets on last year's trip to Hamilton, "and we became really careful at the wrong time for us. You could see that instead of trying to score points, we were trying to prevent them from scoring."

The opening set was tied at every point from 11-11 through and including 17-17. The Raiders went on a quick 4-1 run to take a 21-18 lead then, after a Navy timeout and kill, closed the frame on a 4-0 run to earn the first set victory.

The second set saw Colgate slowly turn a 7-6 lead into a 12-8 advantage, but the Mids climbed right back into the set by taking a 15-14 lead. After a Colgate sideout tied the score at 15-15, a 3-0 run by Navy gave it an 18-15 lead. The Raiders made it a two-point difference at 18-16 only to see the Mids notch the ensuing four points to build a 22-16 cushion. Navy's lead would be at least five points over the remainder of the set.

Colgate opened the third set by scoring five of the first seven points in the frame on its way to jumping out to a 12-5 lead and being in control of the remainder of the set.

Navy bounced right back by taking an early 6-2 lead in the fourth set. The lead for the Mids soon dwindled to two points at 9-7 before a 3-0 run gave them a 12-7 advantage. The Raiders sliced the margin down to three points at 14-11 only to see the Mids score each of the ensuing three points to take a 17-11 lead. Colgate cut the Navy lead down to four points at 18-14, 20-16 and 22-18, then a block by the Raiders made the score 22-19 in favor of the Mids. Each team recorded a sideout to keep the margin at three points, then a kill by the Raiders cut it down to two points at 23-21 and an attack error by the Mids made it a one-point set. Fortner posted a kill to take the Mids to set point, then Maggie Phillips (Fr., Leesburg, Va.) and Alex Cassel (Sr., Sandy, Utah) teamed up for a block to give the Mids the fourth set and send the match into a decisive fifth set.

Most statistics between the teams were very equal, but Navy committed 10 more attack errors (32-22) than Colgate did. That allowed the Raiders to outhit the Mids, .196-.147.

"No team is going to win many matches with being outhit by that amount," said Bock.

Gaby Smith (So., Virginia Beach, Va.) paced the Navy offense with 16 kills and a .297 attack percentage, with Phillips adding 12 kills and hitting .216. Defensively, both Fortner and Alli Graf (So., Annapolis, Md.) snared 20 digs, while Cassel and Sylakowski contributed six and five blocks, respectively.

Navy will return to Annapolis to play host to Army on Oct. 10 and Holy Cross on Oct. 11.