Volleyball hosts Colgate, travels to Army West Point this weekend

The Holy Cross volleyball team is coming off a weekend in which they went 1-1 and they will welcome Patriot League foe and reigning league champion Colgate to campus on Friday, Oct. 27 for a Mental Health Awareness Game in Coach George Blaney '61 Gymnasium at 6 p.m. before hitting the road on Sunday, Oct. 27 to Army West Point for a 4 p.m. showdown. Both contests will stream live through ESPN+.

WHAT TO KNOW ABOUT HOLY CROSS (4-16, 1-10 PL):

• Holy Cross split a pair of matches last weekend defeating Patriot League foe Lehigh 3-1 before falling to Lafayette 3-0.In the win against Lehigh, sophomore Rachel Johnson double-doubled for the fourth time this season with 14 kills and 15 digs while junior Abbie Lane added 13 kills including the match clincher.
• Johnson was named Patriot League Honorable Mention on Monday the league offices announced. She started and played in both matches for the Crusaders this past week recording a team-best 21 kills (3.00 K/S), including 21 digs (3.00 D/S) with one block and one ace. 
• Johnson and Lane are one of the top outside hitter combinations in the Patriot League. Johnson paces the team and ranks fifth in the conference in kills per set (3.24), fifth in points per set (3.76) and sixth in kills (220) while Lane is eighth in kills per set (2.94), ninth in kills (191), ninth in points per set (3.24) and 10th in points (210.5). 
• Holy Cross has bettered their 2022 win total (3) during the 2023 season.

COLGATE AT A GLANCE (16-6, 9-2 PL):

• Colgate is 1-2 over their last three matches spitting last weekend falling to conference opponent Bucknell 3-2 on Friday before winning against Lehigh 3-1 on Saturday. Gillian Hauschild hit .300 with a match-best 16 kills while Abby Shadwick chipped in 14 kills and hit .333.
• Sophie Thompson recently broke the program's all-time block assist record on Oct. 7 against American. Thompson ranks second in the NCAA in blocks per set (1.57). 
• Thompson was named Patriot League Honorable Mention on Monday. She averaged 2.22 block per set in a 1-1 weekend for the Raiders. Thompson had 17 total blocks, the most by any NCAA Division I player in a single match this season during a 3-2 defeat to Bucknell.
• Colgate is 60-7 in the series against the Crusaders and have captured the last 10 matches. Earlier this season, the Raiders upended the Crusaders 3-0 as Rachel Johnson paved the way with a match-best 16 kills.

SCOUTING ARMY WEST POINT (11-9, 8-3 PL):

• Army is 1-2 over their last three matches and split two contests last weekend beating Lafayette 3-0 on Friday before dropping a 3-1 decision to Bucknell. In the win against Lafayette, Paige Fixemer had a game-best 10 kills and seven total blocks. 
• Fixemer (Sept. 19) and teammate Mackenzie Lynch (10/10) were named Patriot League Player of the Week earlier this season. Fixemer is tied for sixth in the conference in blocks (69), eighth in blocks per set (0.96), eighth in in points (241.5), eighth in points per set (3.35) 10th  in kills (186) and 10th in kills per set (2.58).
• The Black Knights lead the Patriot League in opponent hitting percentage holding teams to swing .163 against them. 

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