Mountain Hawks wrap up Buffalo Invitational with Saturday split

Saturday, August 30

Buffalo, N.Y.

10 a.m.

Lehigh University

2-1

Canisius

0-2

Team	1	2	3	4	5	Final F
Canisius	13	25	14	26	9	2
Lehigh	25	23	25	24	15	3

Team	1	2	3	Final F
Ole Miss	25	25	27	3
Lehigh	21	22	25	0

Mountain Hawks wrap up Buffalo Invitational with Saturday split

8/30/2014 7:17:00 PM | Volleyball

Box Score 1 Box Score 2

BUFFALO, N.Y. – The Lehigh volleyball team wrapped up its season-opening Buffalo Invitational Saturday with a 3-2 (25-13, 23-25, 25-14, 24-26, 15-9) win over Canisius before falling 3-0 (21-25, 22-25, 25-27) to Ole Miss in the nightcap. The Mountain Hawks finished the first weekend of play with a 2-2 record after splitting Friday's two contests.

"Both matches today were very good battles," said head coach Bob Bertucci. "The girls played great against Canisius and kept fighting back, so I was very proud of them for that. We were very close to beating Ole Miss. They were a team that physically outmatched us, but we competed very well and kept fighting."

Senior Jade Van Streepen led Lehigh with 29 kills in the two matches combined, while junior Amy Matula tallied 79 assists, 19 digs, nine kills and a .615 hitting percentage. Sophomore Mariah Brantley posted 37 digs while freshman Kelly Bennett stuffed eight total blocks in the two matches.

"Mariah played very well for us consistently throughout the entire weekend," said Bertucci. "Jade came alive today and we depended on her a lot. I was also very impressed with our right-side hitters today."

Lehigh opened the day against Canisius. The first set started in a 2-2 tie before Lehigh took off on an 11-4 run to run the score to 13-6 and force a Canisius timeout. Lehigh continued to roll with impressive accuracy as the Mountain Hawks tallied 18 kills, three service aces and a .593 hitting percentage in the opening set in route to a 25-13 victory.

Canisius responded by taking a quick 4-2 lead in the second set, but kills from sophomore Taylor Carroll and Van Streepen coupled with a Golden Griffin attack error gave the Mountain Hawks a 5-4 lead. Following eight tie scores and three lead changes, Canisius used a 5-0 run to take a 19-14 lead. A Van Streepen kill sparked a 3-0 Lehigh run as the Mountain Hawks pulled within two at 19-17. Canisius extended its lead to four at 23-19 before a Van Streepen kill and Brantley service ace put Lehigh back within one at 23-22, but the Golden Griffins were able to close out the 25-23 set two victory and tie the match at one.

The third set was tied at 10 before kills from Carroll and freshman Whitney Krantz helped Lehigh take a 14-10 advantage. Canisius narrowed Lehigh's advantage to two at 16-14, but the Mountain Hawks scored the final nine points of the set and claimed a 25-14 set three victory to take a 2-1 match advantage.

The fourth set began with five tie scores until the teams were knotted at nine. A 6-1 Golden Griffin run gave Canisius a 15-10 advantage. Lehigh narrowed the Canisius lead to two on several occasions until a service ace from junior Claire Bradshaw and Golden Griffin attack error tied the score at 21. Back-to-back kills from Canisius' Rachel Kline put Lehigh down 24-22, but Van Streepen and Bennett responded with kills of their own to knot the score at 24. Canisius' Katlyn Tyler touched down a spike before a Lehigh attack error handed the Golden Griffins the 26-24 set four win and evened the match at two.

After trailing 6-5 in the fifth and decisive set, a pair of Van Streepen kills sandwiched three Canisius attack errors as the Mountain Hawks jumped out to a 10-6 lead. The Golden Griffins were never able to recover from the deficit as a kill from junior Stephanie Slater scored the final point to give Lehigh a 15-9 set five win and 3-2 match victory.

The Mountain Hawks hit .287, while limiting Canisius to a .199 attacking percentage. Van Streepen tallied a game-best 18 kills to go along with 14 digs. Brantley registered 24 digs and Matula posted 49 assists.

Lehigh finished the four-game tournament against Ole Miss later in the day. The teams traded points early on in the first set until back-to-back Lehigh kills from Van Streepen and freshman Morgan Lowe gave Lehigh a 7-4 lead. Ole Miss narrowed the Lehigh lead to one on two occasions, but the Mountain Hawks remained in control and eventually extended the advantage to 15-11 to force a Rebel timeout. The Rebels eventually tied the score at 17 and then used three unanswered points to grab a 21-19 advantage. The Mountain Hawks couldn't rally and fell 25-21 in the first set.

The Rebels picked up where they left off in the second set, jumping out to a quick 5-1 lead. Ole Miss remained in control for a majority of the match and worked its lead to 21-17, but kills from Krantz and Slater coupled with several Rebel attack errors allowed the Mountain Hawks to rally and knot the score at 22. Ole Miss responded with three straight points to go up 2-0 with the 25-22 set two win.

The third set was much of the same as Ole Miss cruised to a 21-14 lead. The Mountain Hawks still had fight left in them as a Krantz kill sparked an 8-2 run to narrow the Rebel lead to 23-22. A kill from Ole Miss' Lexi Thompson set up match point, but a service error and kill from Krantz knotted the score at 24. After exchanging points, Lehigh service and attack errors handed Ole Miss the 27-25 set three win and 3-0 match victory.

Van Streepen registered her second double-double of the day with 11 kills and 11 digs. Senior Kaylynn Genemaras followed with 10 kills while Matula tallied 30 assists and 12 digs. Rebel Melanie Crow posted a game-high 16 kills.

The Mountain Hawks continue tournament play next weekend as Lehigh heads to the Patriot Invitational. The Mountain Hawks will face George Mason and Maryland on Friday before taking on William and Mary and East Tennessee State Saturday.

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All-Tournament Team:
Jacqueline Skeen, Siena
Kristin Bendy, Canisius
Taylor Carroll, Lehigh
Mariah Brantley, Lehigh
Tahleia Bishop, Buffalo
Aubrey Edie, Ole Miss
Melanie Crow, Ole Miss

MVP: Nakeeta Clair

Tournament Champion: Ole Miss

Runner Up: Lehigh