Lehigh University Athletics
Lehigh volleyball to end 2008 season on road
11/13/2008 12:00:00 AM | Volleyball
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The Mountain Hawks have shown flashes of promise all season, whether it was in being ranked in the top 50 nationally in aces per set at times in the year, or being near the top of the Patriot League in digs for most of the season. With a team filled with seven freshmen and no seniors, Lehigh head coach Jenny Maurer said her team can use those positive moments to build on.
“The exclamation point for us would be for it to all come together this weekend,” Maurer said. “It just goes to show you that we have all the pieces, we just need to put it together. But that’s a tall order for the young team that we have.”
Still, Maurer said her team will not be in search of moral victories this weekend. The Mountain Hawks are no longer playing for a spot in the Patriot League tournament, but there will be a lot of pride at stake against these league foes, and they will be looking for two victories to finish the season.
Lehigh will also be looking to build momentum to carry into the offseason, where it will bring back the entire team for the 2009 season.
“We won more matches this season, but more importantly than just improvements in the win-loss category, we are just more confident overall than we were before,” Maurer said. “We’ve come together as a team, in terms of our accountability, our communication and our team play.”
The action kicks off first at Bucknell on Friday night at 7 p.m., where the Mountain Hawks will take on a fourth-place Bison team playing for a spot in the Patriot League tournament. Bucknell has had some success on the defensive end in 2008, allowing the fourth-lowest opponent hitting percentage in the Patriot League so far (.203).
Bucknell grabbed a four-set victory over the Mountain Hawks in the first meeting between the squads in Leeman-Turner Arena on Oct. 25, so Lehigh will be looking to return the favor in Lewisburg.
The Bison also have the advantage of playing in front of a loud crowd at Davis Gym. However, Maurer said the raucous home courts have not had much of an effect on her young team.
“It hasn’t seemed to faze us either way,” Maurer said. “We have loud practices, so I think we prepare ourselves for that. I think we have a lot of players that can thrive off the loud crowds, so we don’t get rattled by it, we use it.”
The Brown and White will close the season on Saturday at Colgate at 4 p.m. The Mountain Hawks fell in a tough three-set match to the Raiders on Oct. 24. Errors and poor service play cost Lehigh in that match, and the team is hoping it can click on all cylinders this time around.
Either way, Maurer said she and her players have been surprised by how quickly the end of the season has come.
“I was talking with our captains the other day, and the consensus was that the league play just flew by,” Maurer said. “Sometimes it feels like those preseason tournaments never end, but I feel like we just started the Patriot League schedule.”
Fans can tune in to Lehighsports.com for live video from Colgate on Saturday aftrenoon beginning at 4 p.m. Thanks to an agreement with Colgate athletics, Lehigh yahoo subscribers can log into their account and access the Colgate video stream the same way they access Lehigh coverage. Check back with Lehighsports.com after each match for a complete game story and results from Lewisburg (Friday, 7 p.m.) and
