Thomas Healy ’28
Chief Sports Editor
With a 3-2 win over Bucknell on Saturday, the volleyball team improved to 11-11 for the season and 4-5 in the Patriot League. The win marks their fourth in a row, the squad’s longest winning streak of the season. The 11 victories for the Crusaders are the most in a single season since 2010, when the team finished with 12 wins. 16 years later, the team is on pace to surpass that and make a deep run in the Patriot League playoffs. Offensively, the team has been guided by sophomore Emma Sorensen, leading with 286 kills this season and 3.86 points per game. Sorensen, coming off a Patriot League Second Team achievement last year, has continued to display her dominance on the court this year. The Dallas native led the Saders in kills, kills per set, points, and points per set last season, and she has maintained that production in her sophomore campaign. Her ability to consistently generate offense has been instrumental in the Crusaders’ recent success, providing the team with a reliable scoring threat as it looks to climb the Patriot League standings.
The four-game winning streak comes at a critical point in the season, as the Crusaders look to ride the wake of their recent success into the postseason. With their win total reaching a milestone not reached in over a decade, the team has a real chance to establish themselves as a contender in the Patriot League now and for years to come.
Speaking on the win over Bucknell, head coach Matthew Cribbin highlighted the team’s determination in the 5th set, saying, “To get that fifth-set win, which was something we really struggled to get last year, we went five sets a lot and couldn’t pull it out, but now with the resilience, grit, and experience to pull that out was awesome.” Continuing to capitalize on the team’s offensive production, which has also been catapulted by freshman Kat Teepe, will be key to sustaining the recent momentum.
Looking at the Patriot League standings, Holy Cross sits toward the middle of the pack at 4-5, with conference powerhouse American leading the way with an undefeated conference record. While it will be difficult to topple the top of the pedestal in the conference, the Crusaders have already displayed an extraordinary willingness to fight for the gritty points that win games. It doesn’t matter who you’re playing when you can boil the game down to each set and each point and focus on the present. In the first leg of their two-game season series against American, Holy Cross went five sets with the best but just fell short. Since then, the Crusaders have a 5-4 record, including two wins that came down to the fifth set.
It’s a long season in collegiate volleyball, one that starts long before the better half of the student body returns to campus in August. This Holy Cross team has illustrated their resolve over the course of the long, strenuous campaign that calls for whole weekends spent playing games and the burden of walking up Mt. St. James to the Hart Center. 2026 has been a historic year for Holy Cross volleyball, and the best has surely yet to come.
The team faces off against Navy on Friday, Oct. 23 followed by American on Saturday Oct. 24. Go Cross go!
Copy edited by Julia Kane 10/20/26
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