Saturday, September 6
Fairfax, Va.
10 a.m.
Lehigh University
3-4
1
vs
3
William and Mary
4-2
1
2
3
4
F
Lehigh
25
18
22
16
1
William & Mary
21
25
25
25
3
Mountain Hawks drop two on final day of Patriot Invitational
9/6/2014 7:08:00 PM | Volleyball
FAIRFAX, Va. – The Lehigh volleyball team suffered a pair of losses Saturday on the final day of the Patriot Invitational. The Mountain Hawks opened the day with a 3-1 loss to William and Mary (25-21, 18-25, 22-25, 16-25) before dropping a 3-0 match to East Tennessee State (18-25, 22-25, 17-25). The Mountain Hawks fall to 3-5 on the season.
"There were a lot of positive things that happened over the weekend, but we have things to work on," said head coach Bob Bertucci. "We competed pretty well and the girls did a lot of good things. We definitely have to generate a better offense because we're just not putting the ball away enough. We have to minimize unforced errors."
"Mariah Brantley played really well and I thought Amy Matula turned in a consistent performance, as did Stephanie Slater," continued Bertucci. "Other than that we were kind of up and down."
The opening set against William and Mary opened in a 9-9 tie. A pair of kills from both freshman Kelly Bennett and junior Stephanie Slater helped the Mountain Hawks to a 13-10 lead. The Tribe stayed within two points until the score read 22-21 in favor of Lehigh. A pair of kills from senior Jade Van Streepen and a W&M attack error secured the 25-21 opening set victory.
Lehigh held a slim 5-4 lead in the second set before the Tribe erupted with five straight points to take a 9-5 advantage. Another 5-0 run helped William and Mary take a 17-10 lead from which the Mountain Hawks could never recover as the Tribe claimed a 25-18 set two victory to even the match at one.
Lehigh battled back from an 11-8 deficit in the third set to take a 13-12 lead and then used kills from Slater and Bennett to work the advantage to 17-14. William and Mary rallied to knot the score at 21 before closing out the set on a 4-1 run to pick up a 25-22 victory and 2-1 match advantage.
The fourth set began at a 6-6 draw before William and Mary scored 10 straight points to take a commanding 16-6 lead. The Mountain Hawks were never able to recover, despite scoring ten points to W&M's nine, and the Tribe claimed the 3-1 match victory with a 25-16 set four win.
Slater led Lehigh with 16 kills while sophomore Mariah Brantley recorded a career-high 29 digs. Michelle Heath led W&M with 12 kills. The Tribe hit .150 compared to Lehigh's .078.
East Tennessee State held a narrow 8-7 advantage in the first set of the day's second game before using a 6-0 run to take a 14-7 lead. Kills from Van Streepen and sophomore Kianna Carroll narrowed the ETSU lead to five at 20-15 but a 3-0 run and a kill from Rylee Milhorn eventually gave the Buccaneers the 25-18 set one victory.
The second set saw nine tie scores before it was knotted at ten. ETSU held a slim 13-12 lead before pulling away with a 4-0 run to extend its advantage to 17-12. Kills from Van Streepen and Slater, coupled with a few ETSU attack errors, helped Lehigh pull within two at 23-21, but the Bucaneers were able to close out the 25-18 victory with the help of kills from Meredith Hardy and Khadijah Wiley as ETSU took a 2-0 match advantage.
The third set was close in the beginning once again, with Lehigh trailing 12-10 in the early goings. ETSU erupted on an 8-1 run to claim a dominant 20-11 lead. The Mountain Hawks attempted to rally, but it wasn't enough as the Bucaneers completed the 3-0 sweep with the 25-17 set three victory.
Slater led Lehigh with nine kills, followed by Van Streepen with eight. Brantley notched 20 digs, while Van Streepen contributed 19. Lehigh hit .092 compared to ETSU's .215.
Next up for the Mountain Hawks is a trip to Villanova Tuesday at 7 p.m. Lehigh will then make its home debut when the Mountain Hawks host the Crosstown Invitational next weekend.
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Patriot Invitational All-Tournament Team
Adreene Elliott - Maryland
Tiffany Clarke - George Mason
Amy Matula - Lehigh
Gabrielle Pe - William & Mary
Best Attacker: Ashleigh Crutcher - Maryland
Best Setter: Carlotta Oggioni – Maryland
Best Blocker: Meredith Hardy - ETSU
Best Libero: Katie Muey - ETSU
Team Stats
LEHIGH
WM
Kills
46
49
Errors
32
23
Attempts
179
173
Hitting %
.078
.150
Points
58.0
71.0
Assists
42
47
Aces
3
5
Blocks
9.0
17.0
Game Leaders
Kills-Aces-Blocks
Kills
16
Aces
0
Blocks
5
Kills
9
Aces
0
Blocks
2
Kills
5
Aces
0
Blocks
4
Kills
4
Aces
0
Blocks
2
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