Lehigh sets program record for league wins with 3-0 victory over Colgate

Friday, November 7

Leeman-Turner Arena at Grace Hall

7 p.m.

Lehigh University

19-9, 12-2PL

Colgate

14-9, 8-5PL

Team	1	2	3	Final F
Colgate	22	22	14	0
Lehigh	25	25	25	3

Lehigh sets program record for league wins with 3-0 victory over Colgate

11/7/2014 9:10:00 PM | Volleyball

Box Score

BETHLEHEM, Pa. – The Lehigh volleyball team picked up its seventh-straight win Friday evening inside Leeman-Turner Arena at Grace Hall as the Mountain Hawks battled to a straight-set (25-22, 25-22, 25-14) win over Colgate (14-9, 8-5). The Mountain Hawks (19-9, 12-2) have now won 12 league games in a season for the first time in program history. Lehigh's seven-match win streak is the Mountain Hawks' longest since an eight-game run in 1997.

"The Colgate team we saw tonight was a better Colgate team than we saw a month ago at Colgate," said head coach Bob Bertucci. "Those first two games were really close and could have gone either way. I thought our girls did a great job of fighting back and really putting it away at the end."

Freshman Whitney Krantz put together an outstanding performance with a career-high 14 kills and a .591 attack percentage, while senior Jade Van Streepen followed with 14 spikes and a hitting percentage of .452. Junior Stephanie Slater recorded nine kills, while classmate Ana Vrhel chipped in seven spikes and three solo blocks. Junior Amy Matula tallied a team-best 34 assists, while sophomore Mariah Brantley led the squad with 17 digs.

Colgate got off to a quick 4-0 lead in the opening set, forcing Bertucci to call an early timeout. Lehigh answered with a 7-2 run with the help of three kills from Van Streepen to jump ahead 7-6. After three knotted scores, the Raiders broke a 12-all tie with a pair of kills from Kenzie Hume, but the Mountain Hawks eventually rallied back to tie the score at 16. Knotted again at 20, a kill from Krantz ignited a 5-2 Lehigh run as a Vrhel spike capped off a 25-22 set-one win and put Lehigh on top 1-0.

The second set began the same as the first as the Raiders quickly took a 5-0 lead behind the serve of Jackie Macy. A kill from Vrhel ended the Colgate streak as Lehigh eventually pulled within one at 6-5. Three kills from Katie Stebbins helped the Raiders re-extend their advantage to four at 11-7. A kill from freshman Stephanie Steiber sparked a 6-2 Lehigh streak to knot the score at 13. Colgate took control once again with four unanswered points to pull ahead 17-13. The Raiders held onto the lead until a Krantz kill broke a 20-20 tie to put the Mountain Hawks up by one. Krantz continued to impress as the freshman scored three of Lehigh's last four points to help the Mountain Hawks capture a 25-22 set-two win.

Colgate held an early 6-5 edge in the third set before Raider attack errors and kills from Van Streepen and junior Leah Turner put Lehigh up 10-6. The Raiders were able to pull within two at 10-8, but Lehigh erupted on a 10-4 streak to take a commanding 20-12 lead. A Colgate attack error eventually handed the Mountain Hawks a 25-14 set-three win and 3-0 match victory. Lehigh hit a match-high .440 during the final set.

Lehigh heads to Bucknell Saturday at 5 p.m. in the penultimate match of the regular season. The Mountain Hawks return home next Saturday to host first-place American at 4 p.m. on Senior Day.

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