Friday, October 30
Hamilton, N.Y.
6 p.m.
Lehigh University
7-415-11; PL
3
at
1
Colgate
7-49-13; PL
1
2
3
4
F
Lehigh
25
25
15
25
3
Colgate
18
21
25
20
1
Lehigh completes season sweep of Colgate with 3-1 road victory
10/30/2015 8:11:00 PM | Volleyball
HAMILTON, N.Y. – The Lehigh volleyball team picked up a big 3-1 (25-18, 25-21, 15-25, 25-20) victory at Colgate Friday night to take over sole possession of third place in the Patriot League standings. The Mountain Hawks complete the season sweep of the Raiders with the win and move to 8-4 in league play and 16-11 overall, while the Raiders fall to 7-5 in the Patriot League and 9-14 overall.
"This was a very important road game against a team that's pretty equal to us," said head coach Bob Bertucci. "We made some big plays and really controlled the first two sets before Colgate came out on fire in the third set. We changed up our serving tactics in the fourth set and the girls got their confidence back and played well. Now we have to make sure we're ready to go tomorrow against a good Bucknell team that took us to five sets last time we played."
Senior Leah Turner tallied a team-best 17 kills to go along with a .368 hitting percentage, while classmate Stephanie Slater chipped in 14 kills and an outstanding .462 attack percentage. Senior Amy Matula put together a strong all-around game with 40 assists, five kills, a .500 hitting percentage and eight digs. Freshman Emily Develle registered a team-best 18 digs.
The first set opened in a 10-10 tie before a block from senior Ana Vrhel and sophomore Whitney Krantz sparked a 5-0 Lehigh run that gave the Mountain Hawks a 15-10 advantage. The Raiders scored the next point, but Lehigh answered with four more to extend its run to 9-1 and jump ahead 19-11. The Mountain Hawks worked their way to set point at 24-15 before Colgate scored the next three, but a kill from Slater eventually capped off a 25-18 set-one victory.
The second set was tied 12 times before it reached 17-17. A Slater kill ignited a 3-0 Mountain Hawk run that put Lehigh ahead 20-17. The Raiders responded by scoring three of the next four points to narrow the Mountain Hawk lead to 21-20. A Colgate attack error, block from Turner and Vrhel and kill from Matula followed as Lehigh worked its lead back to four. The Raiders put up one more point, but a kill from Turner secured a 25-21 set-two victory to give the Mountain Hawks a 2-0 match advantage.
The Raiders grabbed a slim 5-4 lead in the third set before erupting on a 7-1 run to claim a 12-5 advantage and force a Mountain Hawk timeout. Colgate continued to roll, never letting the Mountain Hawks get closer than five until Lehigh used a 3-0 run to trim an 18-12 deficit to 18-15. Colgate quickly responded with seven straight points to thwart the Lehigh rally and capture a 25-15 set-three win.
The teams exchanged leads early on in the fourth set, with neither being able to gain a lead larger than two points. Lehigh eventually broke a 17-17 tie with two points thanks to a Colgate service error and kill from Vrhel to take a 19-17 advantage, a lead the Mountain Hawks wouldn't relinquish. The Raiders pulled within one at 20-19, but three consecutive Lehigh kills gave Lehigh a four-point advantage at 23-10. A Matula service ace eventually secured the 25-20 set-four win and 3-1 match victory for the Mountain Hawks.
The Mountain Hawks will now return home following a seven-match road streak to host Bucknell Saturday at 4 p.m. inside Leeman-Turner Arena. Free video will be available on the Patriot League Network.
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Team Stats
LEHIGH
COLGATE
Kills
54
47
Errors
21
19
Attempts
138
125
Hitting %
.239
.224
Points
67.0
61.0
Assists
47
40
Aces
4
4
Blocks
9.0
10.0
Game Leaders
Kills
17
Aces
0
Blocks
2
Kills
14
Aces
0
Blocks
0
Kills
9
Aces
0
Blocks
2
Kills
5
Aces
1
Blocks
2
Players Mentioned
L
/ VolleyballOH
/ VolleyballS
/ VolleyballRS
/ VolleyballOH
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