Liberty built a 2-0 lead over Colgate on Saturday, before the Raiders rallied for a five-set victory (22-25, 16-25, 25-23, 25-19, 20-18) over the Lady Flames at Maryland's XFINITY Center Pavilion. Colgate improves to 3-5 on the season with the win, while Liberty falls to 2-6. The Raiders split a pair of matches on Saturday at the Maryland Invite and the Flames fell to South Carolina and Colgate.
Notable Numbers • Liberty outhit Colgate, .222-.210 and tied a season high with 10 aces. The Lady Flames led in digs, 72-54, while the Raiders held an 18-10 lead in blocks.
• Colgate's Alli Lowe scored a match-high 21 kills, while Julia Kurowski led all players with 45 assists and Jaela Hutchinson posted a match-best 11 blocks.
• Five different Lady Flames (Victoria Baptista, Jenna Culhan, Anna Gragg, Amelia Johnson, Kailey Macy) scored in double-figures in kills, led by Culhan's career-high 16 kills. Culhan added a career-high five blocks, while Baptista's 13 digs gave the senior her third double-double of the season.
• Liberty's Anna Gragg set a season high with eight blocks, while Margaret Latchford collected a season-high-tying 23 digs and Hannah Morris dished out a season-high 40 assists.
Match Summary SET 1 • Liberty broke a 20-20 tie with a late four-point rally that featured kills by Johnson and Culhan. After a sideout, Lowe's kill brought Colgate to within 24-22, but Baptista ended the set with a kill.
• During the opening set, Liberty outhit Colgate, .306-.242. Culhan and Johnson both had four kills for Liberty, while Lowe responded by scoring four kills for the Raiders.
SET 2 • The Lady Flames shook off a 10-7 start, outscoring Colgate 18-6 down the stretch to take a 2-0 match lead. During the second set, which Liberty won, 25-16, the Lady Flames registered four service aces and four blocks.
• Gragg recorded three kills, one ace and four blocks during the second session.
SET 3 • Colgate rallied late in set three to extend the match to a fourth set. The Raiders' three-point run broke a 21-21 tie. Following a Liberty sideout, Baptista narrowed the deficit to 24-23 with a kill. However, Hamlin's kill gave Colgate the victory.
• During the third set, Colgate outhit Liberty, .250-.125, with the Raiders posting seven blocks.
SET 4 • The Raiders pulled away late in set four to win, 25-19 and set up a dramatic fifth set. During the fourth set, Colgate hit .294 compared to .231 for the Lady Flames.
SET 5 • Liberty trailed set five 13-10 before going on a four-point run. Madi Furtado served up an ace during the run, which put the Lady Flames ahead 14-13. The teams went back and forth, with Liberty serving up two set-point tries and Colgate cashing in on its fourth set-point chance to win, 20-18.
• The fifth set saw Colgate outhit Liberty, .226-.143, while also posting five blocks. Lowe scored five kills for the Raiders in the final set.
Quick Hits • Latchford passed Karyl Bacon (2007-10) into eighth place in program history with 1,475 career digs. Today was her 21st career 20-dig match.
• Prior to Saturday, the last time five Lady Flames had 10 or more kills in the same match was Oct. 29, 2010, a 3-2 win at Charleston Southern. Bacon (18), Loren Thomas (14), Kendle Rollins (10), Lillie Happel (10) and Hannah Anderson (10) all reached double figures that night.
• Liberty is 1-1 in five-set matches this season. Both times the Lady Flames have gone to five sets in 2018, they have led the match, 2-0.
• Morris registered her fourth career 40-assist match, and first since Sept. 27, 2016 at Radford.
Up Next The Lady Flames close out their time at the Maryland Invitational tomorrow at 3 p.m., taking on the host Maryland Terrapins. Maryland swept Liberty in last year's home opener.
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