Lehigh University
Bryant
Volleyball finishes Columbia Classic 2-1
9/19/2009 12:00:00 AM | Volleyball
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NEW YORK, N.Y. – The Lehigh Volleyball team took one of its two matches Saturday defeating the Bryant Bulldogs 3-0 before losing to Columbia 3-2 in the final match of the Columbia Classic. The Mountain Hawks took a two set lead on the host Lions, but couldn’t finish and Columbia was able to come back and win in five sets. Lehigh will leave New York with a 7-7 record which is one win away from tying last season’s win total.
“I was very pleased with the tournament,” head coach Jenny Maurer said. “We ended up going 2-1 and we played great in five of our eight sets today.”
The Mountain Hawks were able to take the first two sets 25-21 and 25-13 on Columbia, but they would not give up. The Lions built early leads in both the third and fourth set and would go on to take them 25-15 and 25-16. Lehigh was down 13-7 in the final set and managed to cut the lead to 14-11 before Columbia closed out the match.
“We started off strong in the first two sets, but unfortunately we let them take control and we made some mistakes. We took a big lesson from the match that even if you go up two sets it doesn’t mean anything until you finish. The good news is we are in control of our mistakes and will get better.”
Sophomore Angelika Kopacz continued her steady play leading the team in kills (18) and setting a new career-high in digs with 31. Senior captain Mo McReynolds finished the match with 12 kills which was second highest on the team.
Junior Brittany Dickinson had another big match for the Mountain Hawks as she recorded a double-double with 42 assists and 13 digs. Also recording a double-double was sophomore Brittany Reichwein who recently returned from injury. Reichwein finished the match with 10 kills and 16 digs.
The Mountain Hawks started the day off strong by sweeping Bryant in straight sets. Late in the first set the teams were tied 19-19 until Lehigh took control of the set and finished off the Bulldogs 25-23. In the second set the Mountain Hawks took control about halfway through and won the set 25-20. Lehigh was able to finish off Bryant in the third set winning 25-20.
Kopacz picked was able to pick up right where she had left off last night and once again had a double-double. Kopacz contributed 12 kills and 10 digs in the win over Bryant.
Reichwein finished second on the team with 10 kills and she also added eight digs. Dickinson set up the attack with a match-high 33 assists. McReynolds had seven kills to go along with four serving aces.
Kopacz and Dickinson were honored for their strong performances this weekend and were named to the All-Tournament team.
“Brittany was able to set it to anybody this weekend,” Maurer said. “When we made some unforced errors Brittany was able to make great adjustments.”
Maurer continued, “Angelika had a great weekend. It was the best defense I’ve ever seen her play. She was amazing on offense and took some hard shots. Not a lot of teams can stop her.”
Lehigh is starting to put everything together as they move forward in the season.
We’re on a mission,” Maurer said. “We set some goals for the season and the girls are pretty driven. We are taking so many positives into league play. All we have to do is put everything together and not back down.”
The Mountain Hawks will open up Patriot League play next Friday when they host Navy at 7 p.m. This will mark the start of a six-match home stand for Lehigh.
