Mountain Hawks rally for 3-2 win over Army West Point on Senior Day

Saturday, November 14

4 p.m.

Lehigh University

19-12, 11-5PL

Army West Point

20-9, 12-4PL

Army

Lehigh

Mountain Hawks rally for 3-2 win over Army West Point on Senior Day

11/14/2015 6:44:00 PM | Volleyball

Box Score

BETHLEHEM, Pa. – The Lehigh volleyball team battled back from a 2-1 deficit to capture a 3-2 (25-20, 10-25, 16-25, 25-19, 15-12) victory over second-place Army West Point on Senior Day Saturday inside Leeman-Turner Arena at Grace Hall. The playoff-bound Mountain Hawks end the regular season at 19-12 overall and 11-5 in league play, while the Black Knights move to 20-9 overall and 12-4 in the league. The two teams will meet next weekend in the Patriot League semifinals at American.

"Tonight was a great match and Army is a terrific team," said head coach Bob Bertucci. "I give a lot of credit to our girls because they didn't lose their composure after the second and third sets. They competed very hard and showed a lot of fight."

Three Mountain Hawks tallied double-digit kills, led by senior Stephanie Slater with 13. Classmates Leah Turner and Ana Vrhel followed with 12 apiece. Senior Amy Matula dished a team-best 21 assists, while freshman Megan Polak tallied 20 assists and nine digs. Junior Mariah Brantley registered a squad-high 27 digs. Lehigh finished the match hitting .200 compared to Army's mark of .234, but the Mountain Hawks held the Black Knights under .200 in each of Lehigh's three set wins.

Lehigh turned a 5-4 deficit into a 9-5 lead when a Turner kill sparked a 5-0 Mountain Hawk run early on in the first set. The Black Knights answered right back with a 5-0 run of their own to quickly go ahead 10-9. The score was then knotted at every point until Lehigh used a 4-0 streak to turn a 15-14 deficit into an 18-15 lead thanks to kills from Turner and sophomore Whitney Krantz. The lead would prove to be enough as an Army attack error eventually secured a 25-20 set-one win for the Mountain Hawks.

The second set was tied at 2-2, but the Black Knights rattled off the next nine points to go ahead 11-2. Lehigh could never catch up as Army hit .520 in the stanza en route to a 25-10 set-two win that evened the match at 1-1.

The third set was much of the same as Army quickly put Lehigh in a 16-6 hole. The Mountain Hawks weren't able to get closer than nine the rest of the way as the Black Knights took a 2-1 match advantage with a 25-16 set-three victory.

Lehigh broke a 3-3 tie with an 8-3 run to take an 11-6 lead in the fourth set with the help of kills from four different Mountain Hawks. Army pulled back with three at 12-9, but Lehigh responded with a 5-1 streak that saw a pair of Krantz spikes to go ahead 17-10. The Black Knights battled back within two at 19-17, but a kill from Slater ignited a 6-2 set-ending run for the Mountain Hawks as Lehigh evened the match at 2-2 with a 25-19 set-four victory.

Kills from Krantz and Vrhel and a service ace from senior Claire Bradshaw guided Lehigh to a 5-1 lead in the fifth and decisive set. The Black Knights rallied to knot the score at eight before a Turner kill gave Lehigh a lead it wouldn't relinquish. Army stayed within three the rest of the way, but a Krantz spike eventually secured the 15-12 set-five win and 3-2 match victory.

The Mountain Hawks will make their fifth-straight appearance in the Patriot League Tournament next weekend when third-seeded Lehigh takes on No. 3 Army West Point in the semifinals Saturday at 4 p.m. at American's Bender Arena. The winner will advance to Sunday's championship to take on the winner of No. 1 American/No. 4 Colgate. Free video of the tournament will be available on the Patriot League Network.

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