BETHLEHEM, Pa. – The Patriot League handed out its All-League selections and major awards on Tuesday and two Mountain Hawks were recognized. Sophomore libero Emma Melendez was named Defensive Player of the Year and selected to the All-League second team. Her classmate Angelika Kopacz earned First Team All-League honors. The two helped the Brown and White finish in fourth place in the league to earn its first Patriot League Tournament appearance since 2003.
Melendez becomes the third Mountain Hawk to be named Defensive Player of the Year (Danna Gombocz, 1996 and Marta Mielcarz, 1997). A native of Libertyville, Illinois, Melendez is currently second in the league with a total of 414 digs. Her 708 kills currently rank 18th all-time in program history. She is the first Lehigh player to receive a major award since Rochelle Healea was named Patriot League Rookie of the Year in 1999.
Kopacz, who garnered first team honors, is third in the Patriot League in total Kills with 338 and she is leading the league in serving aces with 41 (.37 per set). For the year Kopacz has 14 double-doubles (kills+digs) and a total of 329 digs. During the season Kopacz was named Patriot League Player of the Week twice and she helped lead the Mountain Hawks to their most successful season in recent history.
Shannon Spafford was the last Mountain Hawk to make an All-League team as she was selected to the second team in 2007.
The tournament action kicks off on Saturday at 4 p.m. between Lehigh and Army in West Point. Make sure to check back to Lehighspots.com to get the latest news surrounding the tournament.
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