Lehigh rolls to straight-set win over Lafayette

Friday, October 17

Leeman-Turner Arena at Grace Hall

7 p.m.

Lehigh University

13-9, 7-2PL

Lafayette

4-16, 1-7PL

Team	1	2	3	Final F
Lafayette	24	18	16	0
Lehigh	26	25	25	3

Lehigh rolls to straight-set win over Lafayette

10/17/2014 9:02:00 PM | Volleyball

Box Score

|The Rivalry: Lehigh-Lafayette

BETHLEHEM, Pa. – A strong team effort helped the Lehigh volleyball squad to its 11th-straight win over Lafayette as the Mountain Hawks toppled the Leopards by a score of 3-0 (26-24, 25-18, 25-16) Friday night inside a packed Leeman-Turner Arena at Grace Hall. The win kicks off the second half of Patriot League play for the Mountain Hawks as Lehigh improves to 7-2 in the league and 13-9 overall, while Lafayette falls to 1-7 in PL play and 4-16 overall.

(10/17/2014) Volleyball vs. Lafayette, 10/17/14

"I'm really excited about the fact that we won in three sets," said head coach Bob Bertucci. "We didn't quite hit our stride in any of the games and that's a credit to Lafayette. We controlled the ball very well and attacked with the serve and played well tonight."

Sophomore Morgan Lowe recorded a team-best nine kills to go along with nine digs, narrowly missing a double-double. Senior Jade Van Streepen followed with eight kills, while junior Stephanie Slater hit an impressive .417 to go along with six kills. Junior Amy Matula registered 28 assists and sophomore Mariah Brantley notched a squad-best 11 digs.

Runs were the theme of the beginning of set one as Lehigh scored the first two points, but Lafayette responded with six of the next seven points to take a 6-3 lead. The Mountain Hawks responded with a 7-1 run of their own, beginning with a Lafayette service error and finishing with consecutive kills from Slater and junior Ana Vrhel to make it 10-7. Lehigh extended its lead to five at 14-9, but the Leopards fought back to eventually tie the score at 15 and 17 before taking an 18-17 lead after a Lehigh attack error. With the score tied at 18, the teams traded the next 13 points until the Mountain Hawks were able to string together two straight points behind consecutive attack errors. That gave Lehigh a 26-24 first-set victory.

Lehigh jumped out to an early lead in the second set, breaking a 2-2 tie with five of the next seven points to take a 7-4 advantage following a kill from Lowe. The lead continued to swell as three straight points made it 19-9, but Lafayette wouldn't go away quietly. Trailing 23-13, the Leopards tallied five straight points to cut the Lehigh lead in half, but a kill from Vrhel followed by an attack error gave the Mountain Hawks the 25-18 set-two win.

The Mountain Hawks tallied the first five points of the third set to take command in the early going. Lafayette answered with the next five, but Lehigh recorded with two straight points and wouldn't trail the rest of the match. The lead slowly extended, reaching four at 13-10 after a service error. A 3-0 run began with a kill from senior Kaylynn Genemaras and concluded with a service ace and attack error to make it 16-10. Lehigh kept the six-point lead over the ensuing points then tallied three straight points behind a trio of kills - from Matula, Van Streepen and sophomore Taylor Carroll - to make it 24-15. Another Van Streepen kill wrapped up the 25-16 third-set win and 3-0 match victory.

The Mountain Hawks return to action Saturday in the final non-league match of the season at NJIT. First serve is slated for 4 p.m.

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