Lehigh earns No. 2 seed; will host Holy Cross Friday in PLT
Posted: 04/12/2011 | Last updated: April 12, 2011 at 03:14 PM
BETHLEHEM, PA. – Lehigh has earned the No. 2 seed in the upcoming Patriot League Tournament, which the Mountain Hawks will host beginning Friday on the Ulrich Varsity Courts, as the league announced the seeds and tournament schedule on Tuesday. The Mountain Hawks will host No. 7 Holy Cross in a quarterfinal match Friday at 3 p.m.
The Mountain Hawks finished a strong regular season at 13-6 overall and 4-2 in the Patriot League, including a 5-2 victory over four-time defending champion Navy back on April 3. Lehigh closed out the regular season with a narrow 4-3 win over Colgate Saturday in Hamilton, N.Y. Holy Cross comes into the tournament with a 0-3 record in league play. The two teams met during the regular season on March 26, and the match ended in a 7-0 shutout in favor of Lehigh. The Crusaders are 2-9 overall this spring.
Lehigh will be gunning for its first ever Patriot League title. The Mountain Hawks have reached the semi-finals five times in tournament history. Last year, the Mountain Hawks fell to Army 4-1 in their first semifinal appearance since 2000 after knocking off Colgate 4-1 in the opening round.
The Patriot League tournament will kick off Friday morning at 9 a.m. when No. 4 seed Bucknell meets No. 5 Colgate, while No. 3 seed Navy will meet No. 6 Lafayette at 12 p.m., with the Lehigh-Holy Cross tilt to follow.
The semifinals will be played Saturday at 10 a.m. with the Bucknell-Colgate winner meeting top seed Army. The Black Knights received a first round bye after completing an undefeated Patriot League regular season. The second semifinal, pitting the Navy-Lafayette winner against the Lehigh-Holy Cross winner is slated for a 2 p.m. start, while Sunday’s championship match will begin at noon.
In addition to its 5-2 win over Navy, Lehigh shut out rival Lafayette 7-0 last month inside the Lewis Tennis Center.
The Patriot League tournament begins Friday on Lehigh’s Varsity Tennis Courts. In the event of inclement weather, matches will be moved inside the Lewis Tennis Center.
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