Friday, September 26
Annapolis, Md.
7 p.m.
Lehigh University
5-010-7 / Patriot
3
at
0
Navy
1-14-7 / Patriot
1
2
3
F
Lehigh
25
25
25
3
Navy
13
20
21
0
Photo by: Chester Toye '17
Lehigh secures 5-0 PL start for first time in program history with 3-0 win at Navy
9/26/2014 9:06:00 PM | Volleyball
ANNAPOLIS, Md. – A strong team effort led the Lehigh volleyball team to a 3-0 (25-13, 25-20, 25-21) win at Navy Friday evening as the Mountain Hawks secured a 5-0 start to Patriot League play for the first time in program history. Lehigh has won five-straight contests and seven of its last eight to move to 10-7 overall. The 3-0 win also marked the Mountain Hawks' fourth-consecutive straight-set victory. Navy falls to 4-7 overall and 1-1 in the Patriot League.
"I don't look so much at the 5-0 start as I do at the way the team is growing competitively," said head coach Bob Bertucci. "We had dropped a number of matches earlier in the year when we had gotten into a tight situation. Starting with last week's Army match, we learned how to win in tight situations. Tonight we were in that same situation again and they played aggressively which is a development that I'm very excited about."
Five Mountain Hawks tallied five or more kills in the match, as junior Stephanie Slater led the way with eight and a strong .389 hitting percentage. Senior Jade Van Streepen followed with seven, while sophomore Morgan Lowe recorded six. Sophomore Taylor Carroll posted five spikes in six total attempts to tally an .833 attack percentage, while junior Ana Vrhel also recorded five kills without making a single error.
Junior Amy Matula notched a team-best 28 assists and sophomore Mariah Brantley led the way with 19 digs. The Mountain Hawks hit .280 as a team while limiting Navy to just .085.
Lehigh held a slim 4-3 advantage in the beginning of the first set before back-to-back kills from Lowe sparked a 5-0 Lehigh run to give the Mountain Hawks a 9-3 advantage. Lehigh held onto a six-point lead at 14-8 until a 6-2 spurt capped off by a Navy attack error help the Mountain Hawks to a ten-point advantage at 20-10. A kill from Slater eventually put the Mids away as Lehigh rolled to a 25-13 set one win. The Mountain Hawks hit an astounding .519 as a team in the opening set, led by Slater and Carroll with five kills apiece.
The Mountain Hawks picked up right where they left off in the second set as a spike from Van Streepen closed out a 5-1 opening spurt. Navy battled back to pull within two at 11-9 before Lehigh responded with a 6-1 run and grabbed a commanding 17-10 advantage. Navy was able to slowly chip away at the Mountain Hawk lead with the help of spikes from four different Mids and eventually closed the gap to 22-18 to force a Lehigh timeout. The teams traded points out of the break before a Slater kill gave Lehigh a 25-20 set two win and 2-0 match advantage.
The third set saw seven knotted scores before a kill from freshman Whitney Krantz tied it at nine. A Slater spike followed to give Lehigh's its first lead of the set at 10-9. A pair of kills from Lowe and a service ace off the hand of Krantz eventually allowed the Mountain Hawks to take a 16-13 lead, but Navy answered with three straight points to tie it at 16. The Mids took a 21-20 lead before a Van Streepen service ace tied it at 21 and Navy called a timeout. Behind the serve of Van Streepen, Lehigh answered with four straight points out of the break and captured a 25-21 set three win and 3-0 match victory.
"I'm very proud of the girls," said Bertucci. "They really stepped up, especially in the third game when we were down by a point towards the end. They tied it up and then just weren't going to be denied. It was great to see."
Lehigh returns to action next Friday Oct. 3 at 7 p.m. inside Leeman-Turner Arena as the Mountain Hawks host Bucknell. Lehigh then travels to Colgate for a 4 p.m. Saturday match on Oct. 4.
Like Lehigh volleyball on Facebook and follow on Twitter for exclusive updates and team content.
Team Stats
LEHIGH
NAVY
Kills
35
32
Errors
9
23
Attempts
93
106
Hitting %
.280
.085
Points
47.5
39.0
Assists
33
32
Aces
4
4
Blocks
8.5
3.0
Game Leaders
Kills
8
Aces
0
Blocks
1
Kills
7
Aces
2
Blocks
1
Kills
6
Aces
0
Blocks
3
Kills
5
Aces
1
Blocks
3
VB vs. Loyola
Friday, October 10
Volleyball vs. American
Saturday, October 04
Mountain Hawk Talk - S2 EP2 - Volleyball
Friday, September 26
2025 Lehigh Volleyball Season Preview
Friday, August 29
