Lehigh University
Navy
Lehigh battles to the end but falls to Navy
10/28/2005 12:00:00 AM | Volleyball
The Mountain Hawks started the match well, hitting an impressive .361 in the opening game. Junior Michelle Schwendenmann registered seven kills in game one and Lehigh held off the Mids to take a 1-0 lead.
Lehigh continued its momentum early in game two, building an early lead, but the Mountain Hawks were unable to keep things going as Navy took the second game, then took and early lead and controlled game three to take a 2-1 lead in the match. The Mountain Hawks were plagued by serving troubles all night as the Brown and White committed 19 service errors on the night.
Game four was tight most of the way through, until the Mountain Hawks mounted a 4-0 run to take a 22-17 lead. Navy battled back, eventually taking the lead but the Mountain Hawks continued to battle, fending off four match points while trying to force a fifth and deciding game. The Mids finally put things away at 32-32 with a Nikki England kill and then an attack error by Schwendenmann, as Navy kept Lehigh winless in the Patriot League.
“We came out and followed our plan tonight and it was working,” said head coach Amanda Moran. “But when you go out and miss 19 serves its tough to overcome. The service errors were the difference in the match.”
Schwendenmann led Lehigh with 16 kills on the evening. Senior Morgan Volkart chipped in with 13 kills for the Mountain Hawks, who hit .127 for the match. Defensively, junior Cassidy Maumus tallied 17 digs and sophomore Julia Atkins contributed two solo blocks and six block assists.
Navy was led by Jessie Sims’ 12 kills and 14 digs. The Midshipmen hit .170 on the evening.
The Mountain Hawks will return to action on Saturday when they welcome American to Leeman-Turner Arena at Grace Hall. The match gets underway at 4:00.
