Syracuse sweeps 3 games to take Colgate Classic title

The Syracuse women’s volleyball team took home the Colgate Classic crown this past weekend, sweeping its three matches.

The Orange defeated Illinois-Chicago on Friday, followed by victories over Bryant and Colgate on Saturday. SU needed five sets to beat UIC 3-2, jumping out to an 8-0 lead in the final set before winning 15-9. Nicolette Serratore and Samantha Clarey combined for seven kills to lead Syracuse to the 3-2 (25-13, 24-25, 18-25, 25-21, 15-9) win.

SU opened the second day with a 3-1 (21-25, 26-25, 25-14, 25-21) win over Bryant. Clarey led Syracuse with a career-high 18 kills. Sophomores Andrea Fisher and Serratore totaled 29 kills.

The Orange lost to Bryant in the first set 25-21 and nearly fell behind by two sets, but Clarey came through with a kill when SU was trailing 25-24, and an ace to lock up a 26-25 set victory.

Syracuse then defeated Colgate 3-1 (25-20, 26-28, 25-19, 25-19) in the second match of the day.

Fisher had 13 digs to go with her 18 kills and Serratore had 16. Clarey had nine kills. Senior middle blocker Samantha Hinz had four blocks and one solo block on defense. Junior Lindsay McCabe had six blocks while sophomore defensive specialist Melina Violas had 16 digs, tying her career-high.

Syracuse hits the road next weekend for the Bluejay Invitational to take on Creighton in Omaha, Neb. The tournament begins on Friday at 6 p.m.

—Compiled by Austin Pollack, contributing writer, arpollac@syr.edu