Saturday, October 31
4 p.m.
Lehigh University
17-11, 9-4PL
3
vs
0
Bucknell
11-12, 5-8PL
1
2
3
F
Bucknell
19
19
14
0
Lehigh
25
25
25
3
Lehigh secures postseason berth with 3-0 win over Bucknell
10/31/2015 6:30:00 PM | Volleyball
BETHLEHEM, Pa. – The Lehigh volleyball team cruised to a 3-0 (25-19, 25-19, 25-14) victory over Bucknell Saturday afternoon inside Leeman-Turner Arena at Grace Hall. The win secures the Mountain Hawks a spot in the Patriot League Tournament for the fifth-straight year as Lehigh improves its league record to 9-4 and its overall clip to 17-11. The Bison fall to 5-8 in Patriot League play and 11-12 overall.
"The team played very well today," said head coach Bob Bertucci. "The team came out after the break between the second and third sets and played almost flawlessly. Bucknell hung in there, but our girls kept playing well, didn't make any mistakes and took care of the ball."
Seniors Leah Turner and Stephanie Slater, as well sophomore Whitney Krantz, recorded 11 kills apiece to lead the Lehigh attack, while Krantz tallied a team-best .409 hitting percentage. Senior Amy Matula led the squad with 40 assists, while freshman Emily Develle registered a team-best 12 digs. The Mountain Hawks hit .288 as a team and limited the Bison to a clip of .082.
Three kills from senior Ana Vrhel helped Lehigh to an 8-3 lead in the opening set. The Bison were slowly able to chip away and able to pull back within one at 12-11. Bucknell was still within one a few points later at 16-15, but Lehigh answered with a 4-1 run to jump ahead 20-16. A pair of blocks and two kills helped the Bison narrow the gap to 21-19, but a kill from Krantz sparked a 4-0 set-ending run for the Mountain Hawks as Lehigh captured a 25-19 set-one victory.
The pair of Lehigh service aces and two Bucknell errors helped Lehigh break a 5-5 tie with four straight points in the second set. The Mountain Hawks jumped ahead by as much as six at 13-7 before the Bison rattled off seven of the next ten points to get within two at 16-14. Bucknell remained within two at 20-18, but kills from three different Mountain Hawks helped Lehigh close the set on a 5-1 run to earn another 25-19 victory and take a 2-0 match advantage.
The Mountain Hawks got out to a quick 10-3 lead in the third set before the Bison used a 4-0 streak to narrow the advantage to 10-7. Lehigh responded with a 6-2 run that was capped off by a Krantz kill to take a 16-9 lead. The Mountain Hawks never looked back from there, scoring nine of the final 14 points to capture at 25-14 set-three win and complete the straight-set victory.
The Mountain Hawks return to action next Friday when Lehigh travels to first-place American at 7 p.m.
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Team Stats
BUCKNELL
LEHIGH
Kills
24
49
Errors
16
17
Attempts
98
111
Hitting %
.082
.288
Points
35.0
59.0
Assists
24
48
Aces
1
7
Blocks
10.0
3.0
Game Leaders
Kills
11
Aces
0
Blocks
1
Kills
11
Aces
0
Blocks
0
Kills
11
Aces
0
Blocks
2
Players Mentioned
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