SUNY Orange take their first loss to the defending champions Dutchess County Community College

The SUNY Orange Colts suffered their first loss of the season to the Falcons of Dutchess County Community College, after winning the first set the Colts unfortunately were unable to win another as the Falcons won three sets in a row to give them a 3-1 match victory. 

In set number one the Colts were able to secure the win by a score of 25-22 after back to back kills from freshman #8 Araceli Ospina and freshman #9 Emily Deserto who put an end to the Falcons scoring streak and an end to the set. From the start of set number one both teams were flying all over the court to make some amazing defensive plays to save the point and continue the rally. 

In the second set up until the second and final timeout that was taken from the Colts it seemed as if neither team was able to break the ice and get over the 3 point hump as a 3 score lead was the largest lead until after the second timeout where the Colts were trailing 18-13 after some recent mishaps on the defensive end which would lead to the Falcons taking set number two giving the Colts their first loss of set while on their home court by a score of 25-18.

In the third set the Colts were off to a slow start after trailing by three points after the first timeout that was taken by the Colts in hopes to slow the momentum of the Falcons but unfortunately that was not enough as the Falcons went on to score 9 points to the Colts 4 before an error by the Falcons which would lead to a 5 point scoring spree to tie the third set at 9 points each. The story of the third set was the Falcons managing to gain a large lead and force the Colts to step up their game and score some unanswered points which they were able to do as the score went from 13-16 to 15-20 before the Colts were able to shrink the lead to 3 points as the Falcons were on their set point with a score of  24-21 the Colts force the Falcons to take what would be their last timeout of the third set.

After losing the third set the Colts had their backs to the wall as they needed to win this next set in order to continue the match. in set number four for the first 10 points scored by each team there were 6 times where the score was tied as neither team was able to maintain the lead they had as the first three point difference came from the Falcons as they lead the Colts 15-12 forcing the Colts to take their first timeout of the fourth set. In the final few points of the set after the timeout break with a score of 20-20 the Colts will look to score a few more points and continue the match while the Falcons will look to finish off the Colts and win the set and match. Shortly after the break with just 4 minutes passing the Falcons were able to secure the win over the Colts giving them their first loss of the year

Freshman setter #8 Araceli Ospina had a fantastic game as she finished with a career high 17 kills in one game the first time since the 2021-22 season that a Colts athlete finished with 17 or more kills in one game. Finishing the game with 18 points, 17 kills, 16 digs and 10 assists

Freshman #6 Lily Noteboom had a fantastic game serving the ball and also on the offensive side, Noteboom had five of the eleven service aces from the Colts. Noteboom finished with 9.5 points, 25 assists, 11 digs, 5 service aces and 4 kills. With 25 assists Noteboom now has the most recorded assists in the 2024 season.

Sophomore libero #7 Alivia Torres wearing a new white uniform for the Colts had a fantastic game finishing with 21 digs, 3 assists, 2 service aces and one kill. While most of her fantastic plays may not show up on the stat sheet Torres had a great game defensively saving a ton of points. 

Freshman #9 Emily Deserto led the team with 26 digs and tied for the second most kills with 6 kills while also recording 3 service aces and 9.0 total points.

The Colts will be traveling to Rockland Community College on Tuesday September 24th for 7:00 PM game time. The Colts are not scheduled to play at home until October 10th against Hudson Valley Community College.