Sunday, November 23
Washington, D.C.
1 p.m.
Lehigh University
22-10
0
at
3
No. 1 American
26-6
1
2
3
F
Lehigh
17
23
20
0
American
25
25
25
3
Mountain Hawks fall in Patriot League championship match at top-seeded American
11/23/2014 2:52:00 PM | Volleyball
WASHINGTON, D.C. – The Lehigh volleyball team wasn't able to rally past top-seeded American Sunday afternoon in the Patriot League Championship match as the Eagles claimed a straight-set (17-25, 23-25, 20-25) victory. American won its second-straight Patriot League title with the win and earns the league's automatic berth into the NCAA Tournament.
"We certainly didn't have the result that we wanted today, but our goal this season was to make it to the championship match and we did just that," said head coach Bob Bertucci. "It was an exciting season and the girls played very hard to get to this point today. I'm proud of the effort today and all season long."
The postseason appearance marked Lehigh's fourth-straight trip to the Patriot League Tournament. Lehigh defeated No. 3 Navy 3-0 in the semifinals Saturday to advance to the Mountain Hawks' first league championship match since 2002. The Mountain Hawks finished the season with a 22-10 overall record that included a 14-2 Patriot League mark, the most single-season league wins in program history. After a 20-win season last year, the Mountain Hawks secured back-to-back 20-plus win campaigns for just the second time in program history. A pair of 22-win seasons in 1981 and 1982 was the only other time Lehigh accomplished the feat.
Senior Jade Van Streepen registered a double-double with 11 digs and a team-best 11 kills, while junior Ana Vrhel followed with eight kills and a squad-high .280 hitting percentage to go along with five blocks. Sophomore Mariah Brantley led the team with 23 digs and junior Amy Matula tallied 27 assists and eight digs. Vrhel and Brantley were both named to the Patriot League All-Tournament team following their strong performances.
Lehigh got out to a quick 5-2 lead in the first set with the help of two service aces from junior Stephanie Slater and a pair of Van Streepen kills. The Eagles rallied to string together five unanswered points and take a 7-5 lead following a kill from Allison Cappellino. A spike from sophomore Taylor Carroll tied the contest at nine. The score was knotted five more times before Lehigh jumped ahead by two at 16-14. The Eagles responded by closing the set on an 11-1 run to capture a 25-17 set-one victory and 1-0 match advantage.
The Eagles held an early 3-2 lead in the second set before Lehigh used a 4-0 run to pull ahead 7-4 thanks to a kill from Vrhel and a pair of solo blocks from Carroll and junior Leah Turner. American tallied five of the next six points to take a 9-8 advantage, but kills from Vrhel and Van Streepen eventually helped Lehigh knot the score at 14. The Eagles broke an 18-all tie with three unanswered points to surge ahead 21-18. A pair of kills from Vrhel coupled with a Van Streepen spike helped Lehigh narrow the gap to one at 22-21 and force an Eagles timeout. After a Cappellino kill, sophomore Morgan Lowe put down a spike before an American error tied the set at 23. A pair of American blocks finished off the set and gave the Eagles the 25-23 victory and 2-0 match advantage.
The third set started in a 3-3 tie, but the Eagles used a 10-5 run to jump ahead 13-8. Lehigh scored five of the next seven points to narrow the American lead to two at 15-13, but a Cappellino kill and American block re-extended the Eagle advantage to four at 17-13. The Eagles worked their lead to five at 20-15, but Lehigh wouldn't go down without a fight and pulled within three at 23-20 thanks to kills from three different Mountain Hawks. The Eagles recorded the last two points to claim the 25-20 set-three win and American's second-straight Patriot League title.
All-Tournament Team
Nicole Perri, Army
Gaby Smith, Navy
Ana Vrhel, Lehigh
Mariah Brantley, Lehigh
Allison Cappellino, American
Kelly McCaddin, American
MVP: Monika Smidova, American
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Team Stats
LEHIGH
AMERICAN
Kills
34
44
Errors
20
13
Attempts
127
121
Hitting %
.110
.256
Points
44.0
56.5
Assists
32
38
Aces
5
2
Blocks
5.0
10.5
Game Leaders
Kills-Aces-Blocks
Kills
11
Aces
0
Blocks
0
Kills
5
Aces
2
Blocks
1
Kills
4
Aces
0
Blocks
2
Players Mentioned
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