Friday, October 29
Leeman- Turner Arena
7:00:00 PM
Lehigh University
3
vs
0
Lafayette
Balanced attack powers Lehigh past rival Leopards
10/30/2010 3:05:00 AM | Volleyball
BETHLEHEM, Pa. – Behind a balanced attacking effort, the Lehigh volleyball team completed a season-sweep of rival Lafayette by downing the Leopards 3-0 Friday night inside Leeman-Turner Arena at Grace Hall. Freshman Courtney McCutchan led the way for the Mountain Hawks with ten kills, as Lehigh hit an impressive .333 as a team on the evening.
The win evens Lehigh's record at 11-11 overall and 5-5 in the Patriot League, while Lafayette falls to 4-20, 0-10 in league matches.
"We remembered playing on their home court and dropping the first set, but knowing we were capable of playing better," said Lehigh head coach Maurer. "That was fresh on our minds. We expect more of ourselves so it was good to see us build confidence over the last weeks.
Maurer continued, "Tonight we had great contributions from a number of different players. It shows that we're more of a complete team now."
The first set began as a back-and-forth affair with five ties and four lead changes, but Lehigh began to assert itself midway through the set. The Mountain Hawks closed the first set on a 12-5 run, as kills by McCutchan and sophomore Taylor Poole gave Lehigh a 25-14 win.
Lehigh kept the pressure on in the second set, building as an early 7-0 run gave the Mountain Hawks a 12-4 lead. Lafayette had its best set of the night, hitting .146 as a team, but never got closer than three points of Lehigh in the set. A kill by freshman Amanda Clark gave Lehigh a 25-17 win and a 2-0 lead going into intermission.
Set number three belonged to the Mountain Hawks, who hit .480 en route to a 25-13 win. An early 5-0 run, followed by a 6-0 spurt put the Brown and White up 15-5 and from there Lehigh cruised to the win to close out the match.
In addition to McCutchan's ten kills, junior Angelika Kopacz had a solid all-around match with eight kills, four service aces and a match-high 17 digs. Kopacz also hit a team-best .571 on the evening. Both of Lehigh's setters, junior Jessica Kudirka and freshman Dana Raber recorded 16 assists."We had only one player in double figures, so it was a night where everyone had kills," Maurer explained. "Our setters did a great job distributing the ball and putting our hitters in good position to score."
Lafayette was paced by seven kills from Alexandra Russo. The Leopards hit just .083 as a team on the evening.
The Mountain Hawks will return to action next Friday night when they travel to Lewisburg, Pa. to face the Bucknell Bison. The match is slated for a 7 p.m. start.
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