Saturday, October 3
4 p.m.
Lehigh University
11-8, 4-1PL
3
vs
0
Colgate
5-11, 3-2PL
1
2
3
F
Colgate
23
17
19
0
Lehigh
25
25
25
3
Lehigh notches fourth-straight win with sweep of Colgate
10/3/2015 6:05:00 PM | Volleyball
BETHLEHEM, Pa. – The Lehigh volleyball team earned an impressive 3-0 (25-23, 25-17, 25-19) win over Colgate Saturday afternoon inside Leeman-Turner Arena to grab sole possession of second place in the Patriot League standings. The Mountain Hawks, winners of their last four matches, move to 4-1 in league play and 11-8 overall, while the Raiders fall to 3-2 in the Patriot League and 5-11 overall.
"I thought our seniors did a great job and played very aggressively today," said head coach Bob Bertucci. "We had great performances from all five of them and the team really showed some fight today."
Senior Leah Turner led the way once again for Lehigh, tallying her third-straight double-double with 22 kills, 17 digs and an outstanding .488 hitting percentage. Seniors Ana Vrhel and Stephanie Slater followed with 12 kills apiece. Classmate Amy Matula dished a team-best 31 assists and junior Mariah Brantley led the way with 22 digs. The Mountain Hawks finished the match hitting .321 and limited Colgate to a clip of .184.
"Leah has really been stepping up and filling an important role for us lately," said Bertucci. "Her play this weekend was incredible and hopefully everyone will follow her lead."
The tight first set saw 13 tie scores and six lead changes. The Raiders held a 16-13 lead, but a 5-1 Lehigh run that saw two kills apiece from Vrhel and Turner helped the Mountain Hawks tie the score at 17. Colgate broke open a 20-20 tie with two straight points as Lehigh called timeout. The Mountain Hawks answered with the next three points, two of which were kills from Slater, to jump ahead 23-22. The Raiders tied the score at 23, but a kill from Vrhel was followed by a bad Colgate set as Lehigh earned a 25-23 set-one win and 1-0 match lead.
The Mountain Hawks came out strong in the second set, using a 14-3 run to break a 3-3 tie and earn a dominant 17-6 lead. The streak saw four kills from Vrhel. The Raiders were never able to get closer than seven the rest of the way as a kill from Turner eventually put away a 25-17 set-two victory to give the Mountain Hawks a 2-0 match advantage.
A pair of Vrhel service aces and two Turner spikes helped Lehigh to an early 6-1 lead in the third set, but the Raiders battled back with a 5-1 run to cut the Mountain Hawk advantage to 7-6. A few points later, Lehigh used another large streak of 5-1 to move its lead back to five at 13-8. The Raiders pulled within four at 18-14, but the Mountain Hawks scored seven of the final 12 points to grab a 25-19 set-three win and complete the 3-0 sweep.
The Mountain Hawks return to action next Saturday inside Leeman-Turner Arena at Grace Hall when Lehigh hosts two-time defending Patriot League champion American at 4 p.m.
Like Lehigh volleyball on Facebook and follow on Twitter for exclusive updates and team content throughout the season.
Team Stats
COLGATE
LEHIGH
Kills
31
54
Errors
10
11
Attempts
114
134
Hitting %
.184
.321
Points
41.0
64.0
Assists
30
51
Aces
5
5
Blocks
5.0
5.0
Game Leaders
Kills
22
Aces
1
Blocks
1
Kills
12
Aces
0
Blocks
1
Kills
5
Aces
0
Blocks
2
Players Mentioned
L
/ Volleyball
S
/ VolleyballRS
/ VolleyballOH
/ VolleyballVolleyball vs. Holy Cross
Saturday, November 08
VB vs. Loyola
Friday, October 10
Volleyball vs. American
Saturday, October 04
Mountain Hawk Talk - S2 EP2 - Volleyball
Friday, September 26
