Friday, September 11
Kingston, R.I.
11 a.m.
Lehigh University
6-3
3
vs
2
Sacred Heart
2-4
1
2
3
4
5
F
Lehigh
25
25
24
23
15
3
Sacred Heart
19
16
26
25
10
2
Mountain Hawks split pair of five-set matches against Sacred Heart and Rhode Island
9/11/2015 9:58:00 PM | Volleyball
KINGSTON, R.I. – The Lehigh volleyball team earned a hard-fought 3-2 battle against Sacred Heart (25-19, 25-16, 24-26, 23-25, 15-10) before dropping a 3-2 (14-25, 25-17, 18-25, 25-23, 8-15) decision to Rhode Island Friday in the opening day of the Art Carmichael Invitational.
"I thought we played very well at times today, but we're still too inconsistent with our play," said head coach Bob Bertucci. "The girls really battled several times throughout today's two matches, but there were also times they could've come out stronger. We're working hard and getting better, so the progression is nice to see."
Sophomore Whitney Krantz tallied a team-best 23 kills in the two matches combined, while seniors Leah Turner and Stephanie Slater followed with 22 apiece. Slater tallied a strong .364 attack percentage along with her 22 kills. Senior Ana Vrhel contributed 18 kills and 12 total blocks. Classmate Amy Matula dished 53 assists, while junior Mariah Brantley registered 41 digs.
The first set of the day's opening match against Sacred Heart began in a 10-10 tie. A pair of kills from junior Katie Jennison helped Lehigh put together a 4-1 run to take a 14-11 lead, an advantage the Mountain Hawks wouldn't relinquish. With the Pioneers within two points at 16-14, Lehigh extended its lead to six at 20-14 with the help of a Slater kill, a block from Vrhel and Turner and several Sacred Heart errors. The Pioneers weren't able to recover as a Sacred Heart service error eventually gave Lehigh set point at 25-19 and a 1-0 match advantage.
Three kills from Krantz and two from Slater helped Lehigh jump out to a quick 10-5 lead in the second set. The Pioneers worked their way back within two at 11-9, but it would be as close as Sacred Heart would get the rest of the way as Lehigh erupted on an 8-2 streak to take a 19-11 advantage. A block from Slater and Jennison later secured a 25-16 win and 2-0 match lead.
Lehigh held an early 11-6 lead in the third set, but Sacred Heart rallied to knot the score at 14 following an 8-3 streak. Following five more knotted scores, Lehigh broke a 21-all tie with two straight points, but a pair of bad Mountain Hawks sets re-tied the score at 23. A kill from Karly Shockey and a Lehigh attack error later broke a 24-24 score as the Pioneers grabbed a 26-24 set three victory.
Sacred Heart took a quick 15-11 advantage in the fourth set before a 5-1 Lehigh run that was comprised of kills from Turner and Krantz tied the score at 16. Lehigh pulled ahead 19-17, but Sacred Heart quickly responded with kills from three different Pioneers to snatch back the advantage at 21-19. The set was tied at 21, 22 and 23, but spikes from Bruna Bon and Lila Palmer ended the set at 25-23 as Sacred Heart was able to even the match at 2-2.
The fifth and decisive set started in a 5-5 tie before kills from Vrhel and Slater put Lehigh up 7-5 and forced a Sacred Heart timeout. The Mountain Hawks worked their lead to three at 9-6, but the Pioneers rattled off the next two points and Lehigh called a timeout. The Mountain Hawks responded with a block from Matula and Vrhel and kills from Jennison and Turner out of the intermission as Lehigh jumped ahead 12-8. The lead proved to be too much for Sacred Heart to overcome as a block from Jennison and Slater secured match point at 15-10 and Lehigh captured a 3-2 victory.
Slater led Lehigh against Sacred Heart with 15 kills and no errors in 30 total attempts to accumulate an outstanding .500 hitting percentage. Turner also chipped in 15 kills, while Krantz tallied 11. Vrhel chipped in seven kills and a team-best nine total blocks. Matula dished a season-high 39 assists to go along with seven digs, while Brantley registered a team-leading 21 digs. The Mountain Hawks hit above .400 for four of the five sets and finished the match with an attack percentage of .383 compared to Sacred Heart's .222 hitting percentage.
Rhode Island got out to a fast 5-0 lead in the first set of the day's nightcap, forcing Lehigh to call a quick timeout. The Mountain Hawks weren't able to shut down a Rhody offense that hit .538 in the opening set and Lehigh's longest streak of the set was a 3-0 run that was comprised of two Brantley service aces and a Krantz kill, but the Rams kept rolling as they earned a 25-14 set one victory.
The Mountain Hawks trailed 3-2 early in the second set, but picked up pace with a 6-0 run that was comprised of two blocks and kills from Slater and Krantz that helped Lehigh jump ahead 9-3. The Mountain Hawks extended their lead to ten at 14-4 following another lengthy run of five straight points. Lehigh still controlled a commanding lead at 23-14 when the Rams attempted to put together a late rally and pulled within six at 23-17, but kills from Vrhel and Turner put the set away, 25-17, and evened the match at 1-1.
The third set saw six tie scores until Rhode Island broke a 13-13 tie with a 3-0 streak. Kills from Vrhel and Turner pulled Lehigh back within one at 17-16, but Rhody answered with four straight points to pull ahead 21-16. The Mountain Hawks were only able to put two more points on the board before the Rams claimed a 25-18 set-three win and took a 2-1 match advantage.
The fourth set opened in a 9-9 tie, but Rhode Island rattled off four straight points with the help of three kills from Franki Darnold to take a 13-9 lead. The Rams eventually worked their lead to five at 20-15 before a Vrhel kill sparked a 5-0 Lehigh run that tied the set at 20. The Rams took a 23-21 lead, but Lehigh recorded the final four points of the set behind two Slater kills, a Matula service ace and Rhody error as the Mountain Hawks evened the match at 2-2 with a 25-23 set-four victory.
The Mountain Hawks couldn't tame the Rams' offense in the fifth and decisive set as Rhode Island quickly jumped out to a 7-1 lead. Lehigh wasn't able to get within five the rest of the way as a Callan Kinnan service ace secured a 15-8 set win and 3-2 match victory for Rhode Island.
Krantz led the Mountain Hawks against Rhode Island with 12 kills, while Vrhel followed with 11. Freshman Megan Polak dished a team-best 19 assists, while Brantley registered 20 digs. The Rams hit .293 as a team, compared to Lehigh's .182 hitting percentage.
The Mountain Hawks wrap up the Art Carmichael Invite Saturday at 12 p.m. against Canisius.
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Team Stats
LEHIGH
SHU
Kills
60
67
Errors
9
30
Attempts
133
167
Hitting %
.383
.222
Points
80.0
74.0
Assists
55
61
Aces
5
5
Blocks
15.0
2.0
Game Leaders
Kills
15
Aces
0
Blocks
3
Kills
15
Aces
0
Blocks
3
Kills
11
Aces
0
Blocks
2
Players Mentioned
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