Wednesday, October 21
Easton, Pa.
7 p.m.
Lehigh University
14-10, 6-3PL
3
at
0
Lafayette
10-10, 2-7PL
1
2
3
F
Lehigh
25
25
25
3
Lafayette
19
19
10
0
Mountain Hawks battle for straight-set road win at rival Lafayette
10/21/2015 8:46:00 PM | Volleyball
| Lehigh-Lafayette Rivalry
EASTON, Pa. – The Lehigh volleyball team used a strong all-around effort to capture a 3-0 (25-19, 25-19, 25-10) win at archrival Lafayette Wednesday evening. Senior Leah Turner hit .400 and recorded a double-double with 18 kills and 12 digs to lead the Mountain Hawks who improve to 6-3 in the Patriot League and 14-10 overall. Lafayette falls to 2-7 in league play and 10-10 overall.
"The season's first match against Lafayette was a real wake-up call for us," said head coach Bob Bertucci. "Our girls came into this match very prepared to go up against a team that was going to fight hard. I was really proud of how our girls played and responded tonight.
"I think this win can give us a lot of momentum going into the second half of league play," continued Bertucci. "We started hitting our stride and playing the way that we're capable of playing, especially in the last set tonight. Every match is critical from here on out, so hopefully we can continue to play that way."
Senior Ana Vrhel and sophomore Whitney Krantz followed Turner with eight kills apiece, while senior Stephanie Slater chipped in six. Senior Amy Matula dished a team-best 39 assists, while classmate Claire Bradshaw registered a squad-high 15 digs. The Mountain Hawks hit .270 as a team and limited Lafayette to a stingy .094 hitting percentage.
Lehigh got out to a quick 8-2 lead in the opening set thanks to kills from three different Mountain Hawks and two service aces from freshman Emily Develle and the Leopards were forced to take an early timeout. Lehigh stayed ahead by at least five until a 4-1 Leopard streak pulled Lafayette within four at 22-18. The Mountain Hawks answered by scoring three of the next four points, capped off by a kill from Turner, to capture a 25-19 set-one win and 1-0 match advantage.
Three kills from Turner helped Lehigh turn a 3-2 deficit into a 7-4 lead early in the second set to force an early Lafayette timeout. The Leopards narrowed the Mountain Hawks advantage to two at 8-6, but Lehigh answered with an 8-4 streak to take a strong 16-10 lead. Lafayette then put together a rally to cut Lehigh's advantage to 17-15 and force the Mountain Hawks to call a timeout. Lehigh scored the next three points to go back up by five which proved to be too much for Lafayette to overcome as a kill from Krantz eventually put the set away at 25-19 to give the Mountain Hawks a 2-0 match advantage.
Kills from Krantz, Turner and Matula guided Lehigh to another fast start in the third set as the Mountain Hawks grabbed an early 6-1 advantage. The Mountain Hawk offence continued to roll, hitting .593 in the third set, and eventually used an 8-0 run to lengthen a 13-7 advantage to a 21-7 lead. A block from Slater and sophomore Kelly Bennett eventually secured a dominant 25-10 set-three win and 3-0 match victory for the Mountain Hawks.
The Mountain Hawks return to action this weekend when Lehigh heads to Navy at 7 p.m. Friday before taking on Loyola at 2 p.m. Saturday. Free video of both matches will be available on the Patriot League Network.
Like Lehigh volleyball on Facebook and follow on Twitter for exclusive updates and team content throughout the season.
EASTON, Pa. – The Lehigh volleyball team used a strong all-around effort to capture a 3-0 (25-19, 25-19, 25-10) win at archrival Lafayette Wednesday evening. Senior Leah Turner hit .400 and recorded a double-double with 18 kills and 12 digs to lead the Mountain Hawks who improve to 6-3 in the Patriot League and 14-10 overall. Lafayette falls to 2-7 in league play and 10-10 overall.
"The season's first match against Lafayette was a real wake-up call for us," said head coach Bob Bertucci. "Our girls came into this match very prepared to go up against a team that was going to fight hard. I was really proud of how our girls played and responded tonight.
"I think this win can give us a lot of momentum going into the second half of league play," continued Bertucci. "We started hitting our stride and playing the way that we're capable of playing, especially in the last set tonight. Every match is critical from here on out, so hopefully we can continue to play that way."
Senior Ana Vrhel and sophomore Whitney Krantz followed Turner with eight kills apiece, while senior Stephanie Slater chipped in six. Senior Amy Matula dished a team-best 39 assists, while classmate Claire Bradshaw registered a squad-high 15 digs. The Mountain Hawks hit .270 as a team and limited Lafayette to a stingy .094 hitting percentage.
Lehigh got out to a quick 8-2 lead in the opening set thanks to kills from three different Mountain Hawks and two service aces from freshman Emily Develle and the Leopards were forced to take an early timeout. Lehigh stayed ahead by at least five until a 4-1 Leopard streak pulled Lafayette within four at 22-18. The Mountain Hawks answered by scoring three of the next four points, capped off by a kill from Turner, to capture a 25-19 set-one win and 1-0 match advantage.
Three kills from Turner helped Lehigh turn a 3-2 deficit into a 7-4 lead early in the second set to force an early Lafayette timeout. The Leopards narrowed the Mountain Hawks advantage to two at 8-6, but Lehigh answered with an 8-4 streak to take a strong 16-10 lead. Lafayette then put together a rally to cut Lehigh's advantage to 17-15 and force the Mountain Hawks to call a timeout. Lehigh scored the next three points to go back up by five which proved to be too much for Lafayette to overcome as a kill from Krantz eventually put the set away at 25-19 to give the Mountain Hawks a 2-0 match advantage.
Kills from Krantz, Turner and Matula guided Lehigh to another fast start in the third set as the Mountain Hawks grabbed an early 6-1 advantage. The Mountain Hawk offence continued to roll, hitting .593 in the third set, and eventually used an 8-0 run to lengthen a 13-7 advantage to a 21-7 lead. A block from Slater and sophomore Kelly Bennett eventually secured a dominant 25-10 set-three win and 3-0 match victory for the Mountain Hawks.
The Mountain Hawks return to action this weekend when Lehigh heads to Navy at 7 p.m. Friday before taking on Loyola at 2 p.m. Saturday. Free video of both matches will be available on the Patriot League Network.
Like Lehigh volleyball on Facebook and follow on Twitter for exclusive updates and team content throughout the season.
Team Stats
LEHIGH
LAFAYETT
Kills
46
25
Errors
13
15
Attempts
122
106
Hitting %
.270
.094
Points
59.0
31.0
Assists
45
24
Aces
9
1
Blocks
4.0
5.0
Game Leaders
Kills
18
Aces
0
Blocks
1
Kills
8
Aces
0
Blocks
1
Kills
6
Aces
0
Blocks
1
Players Mentioned
MB
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