Saturday, November 22
Washington, D.C.
4 p.m.
Lehigh University
22-9
3
vs
0
No. 3 Navy
14-12
1
2
3
F
Navy
19
19
26
0
Lehigh
25
25
28
3
Photo by: Chester Toye '17
Lehigh advances to Sunday’s Patriot League Championship match with semifinal victory over Navy
11/22/2014 6:06:00 PM | Volleyball
WASHINGTON, D.C. – The second-seeded Lehigh volleyball team battled for a straight-set (25-19, 25-19, 28-26) win over No. 3 Navy Saturday afternoon at top-seeded American's Bender Arena in the Patriot League Tournament. The victory advances Lehigh to Sunday's Patriot League Championship match against top-seeded American at 1 p.m. The Eagles defeated Army 3-0 in Saturday's first semifinal matchup. Sunday's match will be Lehigh's first championship appearance since 2002.
"Both teams were very nervous today so it was great that we were able to beat Navy," said head coach Bob Bertucci. "We found a way to get it done and now we will turn our focus to American, which will really be a tough match."
The Eagles and Mountain Hawks split the regular-season series, with Lehigh coming out on top 3-2 in the most recent match on Nov. 15.
"That win helps because now the girls know they can beat American, but they also realize how much tougher it will be to do in American's home gym," said Bertucci. "We're going to have to play better than we did today, but I have no doubt that the girls will be fired up and ready to go tomorrow."
Senior Jade Van Streepen led Lehigh with 11 kills, while junior Leah Turner followed with eight spikes and 11 digs. Juniors Ana Vrhel and Stephanie Slater each finished with seven kills. Sophomore Mariah Brantley registered a team-best 17 digs, while junior Amy Matula tallied 34 assists and seven digs. The Mountain Hawks hit .237 as a team and limited Navy to just .119.
Navy held an early 6-5 advantage in the opening set before a pair of Midshipmen attack errors and a block from Matula and Vrhel helped Lehigh take an 8-6 lead. After the Mids tied the set at eight and nine, a Navy error gave Lehigh a 10-9 lead. The Mountain Hawks would hold onto the lead until a kill from Navy's Rachel Fortner knotted the score at 17. A kill from Slater eventually gave Lehigh a 20-19 lead before an Alex Cassel spike scored the final Navy point of the opening frame. A Van Streepen kill ignited a 5-0 Mountain Hawk run to close the set as Lehigh claimed a 25-19 victory and 1-0 match advantage.
Lehigh got out to a quick 7-2 lead in the second set with the help of kills from Van Streepen and Slater. A 4-3 run pulled the Mids back within three at 9-6, but back-to-back Vrhel spikes extended the Lehigh advantage to 11-6. A Brantley service ace and Navy service error pushed Lehigh's lead to six points at 15-9 before the Mids stormed back with four unanswered tallies to pull within two at 15-13 and force a Mountain Hawks timeout. Lehigh responded with back-to-back points out of the timeout and didn't allow Navy to score more than one point in a row as the score eventually read 20-17 in favor of the Mountain Hawks. Lehigh scored the next three points and took a 23-17 advantage and the Mids were only able to score two more before a Navy setting error cemented a 25-19 set-two victory and 2-0 match advantage for the Mountain Hawks.
The Mids broke open a 3-3 tie with three straight points to begin the third set with a 6-3 advantage. A kill from sophomore Taylor Carroll capped off a 6-3 Lehigh run as the Mountain Hawks tied the score at nine. Navy used a 7-3 streak to take a 16-12 lead before kills from Matula and Vrhel put Lehigh back within two at 17-15. The Mids responded with three straight points to jump ahead 20-15 and force a Lehigh timeout. A Fortner service ace put the Mids up by six out of the timeout, but Lehigh answered with a 4-1 run with the help of kills from Van Streepen and junior Leah Turner to narrow the Navy lead to 22-19 and force a Mids timeout. Another kill from Turner followed the break before a Brantley service ace and Navy attack error helped Lehigh tie the set at 22. After the score was tied again at 23, Lehigh set up match point with a Turner spike, but a kill from Cassel evened it at 24. Navy fought off match point once again to put the score at 25-all before a Fortner kill gave the Mids set point at 26-25. Lehigh responded with kills from Van Streepen and fellow senior Kaylynn Genemaras to reclaim match point at 27-26. A Navy error followed to give Lehigh the 28-26 third-set win and straight-set victory.
No. 2 Lehigh and defending league champion No. 1 American will square off Sunday at 1 p.m. in the Patriot League Championship match. The winner earns the league's automatic berth to the NCAA Tournament. The match will be broadcast for free on the Patriot League Network.
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Team Stats
NAVY
LEHIGH
Kills
38
37
Errors
23
9
Attempts
126
118
Hitting %
.119
.237
Points
43.0
47.0
Assists
36
35
Aces
2
4
Blocks
3.0
6.0
Game Leaders
Kills-Aces-Blocks
Kills
11
Aces
0
Blocks
0
Kills
8
Aces
0
Blocks
1
Kills
7
Aces
0
Blocks
0
Players Mentioned
Libero
/ Volleyball
MB
/ Volleyball
OH
/ Volleyball
S
/ VolleyballRS
/ VolleyballOH
/ VolleyballOH
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