Mountain Hawks pick up eighth straight win with 3-0 victory at Bucknell

Saturday, November 8

Lewisburg, Pa.

5 p.m.

Lehigh University

20-9, 13-2PL

Bucknell

5-18, 4-11PL

Team	1	2	3	Final F
Lehigh	25	25	25	3
Bucknell	19	18	13	0

Mountain Hawks pick up eighth straight win with 3-0 victory at Bucknell

11/8/2014 6:46:00 PM | Volleyball

Box Score

LEWISBURG, Pa. - The Lehigh volleyball team rolled to a straight-set (25-19, 25-18, 25-13) win at Bucknell Saturday afternoon as the Mountain Hawks extended their win streak to eight games. Lehigh improves to 13-2 in Patriot League play and 20-9 overall with the win. After finishing last season with a 20-9 record, the Mountain Hawks have now secured back-to-back 20-plus win seasons for just the second time in program history. A pair of 22-win campaigns in 1981 and 1982 was the only other time Lehigh accomplished the feat.

"I was nervous coming in because I know how much Bucknell has improved over the season and I was concerned with how we'd handle being on the road again," said head coach Bob Bertucci. "The girls came out aggressively right from the start. Our attacking was good and the serving was serving was really good.

"Bucknell was playing well, but we didn't lose our composure at all, which was really nice to see," continued Bertucci. "We just kept getting better and better in set two and three, which is also really nice to see and something we need to make sure we keep doing."

Junior Stephanie Slater led Lehigh offensively with 13 kills and an outstanding .500 hitting percentage. Senior Jade Van Streepen followed with 12 kills. Junior Amy Matula recorded another double-double with 34 assists and ten digs, while also contributing three kills and four service aces. Sophomore Mariah Brantley registered a squad-best 17 digs. The Mountain Hawks hit .308 as a team and limited Bucknell to a .140 hitting percentage.

"A 20-win season is something the girls should really be proud of," said Bertucci. "They've been working really hard and making improvements every day at practice. As long as they keep doing that, they're going to keep getting the wins they deserve."

A pair of kills from junior Ana Vrhel helped the Mountain Hawks to a quick 3-0 lead in the opening set before Lehigh eventually extended its lead to 9-4. A kill from Jordan Walker ignited a 3-0 Bucknell run as the Bison narrowed Lehigh's lead to 9-7. A Van Streepen spike lengthened the Lehigh lead to four at 13-9 before back-to-back kills from Slater gave the Mountain Hawks a six-point advantage at 17-11 and forced a Bucknell timeout. The Bison responded with five straight points to pull back within one at 17-16. A kill from Van Streepen sparked an 8-3 Lehigh set-ending run that was capped off by a Bucknell error as the Mountain Hawks took a 25-19 victory and 1-0 match advantage.

Kills from Slater, Vrhel and junior Leah Turner catapulted Lehigh to a 4-0 lead in the second set. Bucknell battled back within one at 6-5, but a 5-0 Lehigh run put the Mountain Hawks up 11-5. Lehigh cruised from there and the Bison were never able to get closer than five as a Slater kill eventually put away a 25-18 set-two victory and 2-0 match lead for Lehigh.

Bucknell took a 2-1 lead to begin the third set, but three-straight service aces from Matula ignited a 7-3 Lehigh streak to put the Mountain Hawks ahead 9-4. The Bison were able to narrow Lehigh's lead to three at 12-9, but another Matula service ace and kills from three different Mountain Hawks put together five unanswered Lehigh points as the Mountain Hawks jumped ahead 17-9. The Bison were never able to recover as a Matula kill secured the 25-13 set-three win and 3-0 match victory.

The Mountain Hawks return home next Saturday to host American at 4 p.m. in the final match of the regular season. The program's two seniors, Jade Van Streepen and Kaylynn Genemaras, will be honored prior to the match on Senior Day and free video will be available on the Patriot League Network.

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