MADISON, NJ – The young Colonels women's volleyball squad continued their 2021 season with a tri-match out in New Jersey against College of Mount Saint Vincent and Drew University.  The meeting with the Mount Saint Vincent Dolphins was the second in as many weekends for the Navy and Gold.
 
The Colonels (4-2) avenged their previous loss to the Dolphins (4-4), rallying from a 25-22 first set loss to take the next three sets 25-21, 27-25, 25-23 in a 3-1 victory.  The Colonels then met host Drew (6-1) and ended up being swept by the Bears in 14-25, 12-25, 16-25 fashion.
 
Against the Dolphins, neither team trailed by more than three points until the late goings of the first set.  The Dolphins put together a 7-2 run to take a 23-18 lead.  The Colonels battled back with a 4-0 run of their own, but couldn't force extra points and fell to Mount Saint Vincent 25-22.  The teams traded early runs in the second set, the Colonels taking a 8-5 lead off of a 4-0 run thanks to Dolphins errors, while the Dolphins tied it at 9-9 with a 4-1 run.  The squads exchanged small rallies back and forth until the bitter end of the set, where the Colonels took the set home with a 5-2 run with a pair of kills from first year outside hitter Alexis Reedy (Palmyra, PA/Palmyra Area).
 
The Colonels took advantage of more Dolphins errors to take a 7-2 lead in the third set.  The Dolphins eventually battled back to even with the Navy and Gold with a 5-1 run to knot it up at 12 all.  The Colonels answered with a 4-2 run, before the Dolphins struck back with a 4-1 rally to take an 18-17 edge.  A pair of Reedy kills and a pair of Dolphins errors helped the Colonels to a 5-1 run and a 22-19 lead, but a 6-2 Dolphins run helped but Colonels errors tied it up at 23 all.  The Dolphins managed to get within set point with a 25-24 edge, but a 3-0 run capped by a kill from first year setter Jaclyn Rawa (West Chester, PA/Henderson) took home the Colonels' second set of the match. 
 
The Colonels took an early 10-4 lead in the fourth set, fueled by a 7-0 run with a pair of service aces from first year setter Alexa Cassel (Hummelstown, PA/Lower Dauphin).  An 11-4 run saw the Dolphins take a slight edge over the Colonels midway through the set, but the Navy and Gold replied with a 5-1 run to take a 19-16 advantage.  Neither team would string together more than two points in a row in the rest of the set, and the Colonels took home the 25-23 set and the hard-fought match 3-1.
 
Sophomore middle hitter Nicole Fitzpatrick (Newhampton, NY/Minisink Valley) set a career high with four blocks, tying with Cassel for the lead on the day.  Cassel also led the squad with 20 assists and 16 digs, both career highs along with her block total.  Laura Booths (Lake Ariel, PA/Western Wayne) set a career high with 11 kills while Reedy led the way with 14. Rawa set career highs in assists (19) and aces (4) while adding eight digs.

The Colonels struggled to muster much against Drew, as the Bears won every statistical category besides digs by double the Colonels, and as a team the Navy and Gold only had a .027 hitting percentage.  Andrea Camacho-Tenreiro had an impressive match for the bears, with her 16 kills and four aces leading the squad in both categories.  Lauren Gaza recorded 18 digs and four aces to lead the team as well.  Jasmine Butler fueled the Rangers offense with 23 assists. 
 
The Colonels return back to their home state Tuesday with a trip out to Altoona, Pa.  They play at PSU-Altoona at 7:00 p.m.  The two teams are 1-1 against each other in the live stats era, with the Colonels taking the last match back in 2018 3-0.