Lehigh University Athletics
Mountain Hawks make positive strides in 2005
12/15/2005 12:00:00 AM | Volleyball
“We came into the season with very high expectations,” said Moran. “Unfortunately injuries killed us early in the year. We had to use a different lineup combinations and that combined with the tough early season combination was very frustrating for the team.”
Lehigh kicked off the 2005 season at the Temple University Classic in
The atmosphere and the crowds were electric in College Station, Texas but Lehigh failed to win a game against the likes of Virginia, then No. 23 Saint Mary’s and then No. 16 Texas A&M. Lehigh was 0-6 on the season, but the Brown and White where able to gain confidence from going toe-to-toe with the nation’s best teams, and what followed was one of Lehigh’s best efforts of the season. “I didn’t think playing such a tough early season schedule affected us until the Villanova Tournament,” Moran noted. “The team’s we played had a huge impact on our confidence and our performance at Villanova. “
At the Villanova Volleyball Classic, the Mountain Hawks kicked things off by sweeping Wagner for their first win of the season. Lehigh had its best hitting percentage match of the season against the Seahawks, hitting .319 in the win. Later that day, Lehigh and Rider squared off in a five game thriller. The Mountain Hawks won games one and three, and outlasted the Broncs 15-13 in the fifth and deciding game for their first back to back match wins since 2003. Junior Michelle Schwendenmann posted a double-double in the win with 18 kills and 10 digs, one of four Mountain Hawks in double digs against Rider. Kat Lafferty handed out 43 assists in the win for the Brown and White.
The next day, Lehigh made it three wins in a row as the Mountain Hawks defeated
“The team did a great job at the Villanova tournament and our confidence was sky high,” Moran said. “After nearly two weeks off though, we lost a bit of momentum. We would have liked to kick things off with a good showing against an Army team that would be one of the top teams in the league.”
The Mountain Hawks kicked off the home schedule and the Patriot League slate against Army and Holy Cross. The first part of the Patriot League slate was tough for Lehigh, as the Mountain Hawks were mired in an eight match losing streak and following a 3-0 loss to Colgate stood at 3-14 on the season and 0-6 in the Patriot League.
The Mountain Hawks received some help in early October when freshman Liz McGehee joined the team. McGehee came to Lehigh from Tulane in the wake of hurricane Katrina and went on to team with Kat Lafferty to form a formidable 1-2 punch at the setter position.
“Liz stepped in and helped us at the setter position,” Moran said. “Her presence enabled us to put a taller front line on the court. Her and Kat (Lafferty) did a great job working together, they set the ball with similar mechanics to they were relatively interchangeable. I give Kat a lot of credit for giving up some playing time, which can be a negative thing mentally, but she did a great job helping Liz and accepting her position on the team.”
Lehigh would get back in the win column against Fairleigh Dickinson on October 12. The Mountain Hawks hit .248 as a team and Schwendenmann delivered 21 kills in Lehigh’s 3-0 sweep. McGehee handed out 31 assists in her second match of the season, as the Mountain Hawks were able to muster momentum heading into their first meeting with arch-rival
A spirited crowd packed Leeman-Turner Arena at Grace Hall for the first Lehigh-Lafayette match. The home team fell behind two games to none, but rallied to even things up and force a deciding fifth game. The Mountain Hawks would come up short, but their effort and their resilience could not be questioned. Four Mountain Hawks had double digit kills in the loss, and the duo of McGehee and Lafferty combined to dish out 53 assists.
The Mountain Hawks became a tough out at home during Patriot League play. Lehigh battled Navy and Bucknell hard throughout and had five-time defending league champion up against the ropes, taking a game from the Eagles and being a couple breaks away from leading the Eagles 2-0 before bowing out in four games. Lehigh would wrap up with Patriot League slate 0-14, but that did not stop the Mountain Hawks from picking up several impressive victories in non-league matches.
Lehigh rebounded from the
With a 3-1 win over Loyola, the Mountain Hawks sealed their fourth straight non-league victory to end the season. The Mountain Hawks finished the year at 7-22 overall.
Schwendenmann led the Mountain Hawks and was fifth in the Patriot League with 3.77 kills per game. She earned All-League second team recognition for her play, the first Mountain Hawk All-Patriot League selection since the junior from
“It was difficult for Michelle early in the year because she was seemingly carrying the weight of the team on her shoulders,” Moran said. “Our opponents would highlight her as our go-to player, put two or three blockers on her and designed their defensive schemes to stop her. It was difficult for her because she wanted to do more.”
Fellow junior Cassidy Maumus established herself as both a team leader and one of the Patriot League’s top defensive players. The
The Mountain Hawks lose just two seniors, Nikky Barnes and Morgan Volkart, but juniors Schwendenmann and Maumus will be back to provide leadership as Lehigh looks to climb back into the upper echelon of the Patriot League. “We would like get back to the team energy we had last spring,” Moran said. “I hope the girls can become more comfortable playing together as a team and develop a positive mental attitude as we let last season go and look forward to the spring and ultimately the new season. “
