Friday, September 4
4 p.m.
Lehigh University
2-2
3
vs
0
Saint Peter's
0-1
1
2
3
F
Saint Peter's
11
9
13
0
Lehigh
25
25
25
3
Mountain Hawks earn pair of sweeps over Marist and Saint Peter’s in Crosstown Invite
9/4/2015 9:12:00 PM | Volleyball
BETHLEHEM, Pa. – The Lehigh volleyball team put together a dominating performance on the opening day of the Crosstown Invitational as the Mountain Hawks earned straight-set wins over Saint Peter's (25-11, 25-9, 25-13) and Marist (25-15, 25-21, 25-17) Friday inside Leeman-Turner Arena at Grace Hall. The Mountain Hawks hit .349 for the day and limited their opponents to a stingy .104 hitting percentage.
"We came out pretty good against Saint Peter's and made sure we played a clean game on our side of the court," said head coach Bob Bertucci. "The girls came out and were on fire in the second match and put Marist on the defensive right away. Usually our match against Marist always goes to five sets and the two teams are always even, so I was very pleased to see our team go after it as aggressively as we did tonight."
Sophomore Whitney Krantz led the team with 22 kills and seven total blocks to go along with a .314 hitting percentage between the two matches. Senior Stephanie Slater followed with 15 kills, while classmates Leah Turner and Ana Vrhel chipped in 13. Senior Amy Matula dished 43 assists in the two matches combined, while classmate Claire Bradshaw tallied a team-best 18 digs.
"It's the seniors' show this year," said Bertucci. "We have enough seniors on the team to have a strong leadership group. They're determined and if they stay determined then I think they can help us to a really great season."
The first set of the day's opener began closely as Lehigh grabbed an early 6-4 lead. The Mountain Hawks quickly took off on a 7-2 run with the help of kills from four players to take a 13-6 advantage. Saint Peter's wasn't able to register back-to-back points for the rest of the set as a kill from Krantz was followed by a Peacock error to close out the set and give the Mountain Hawks a 25-11 victory and 1-0 match advantage.
The Mountain Hawks took a quick 8-0 lead in the second set behind the serve of Turner who served up four aces to help Lehigh to its early advantage. Two kills from both Krantz and Vrhel helped Lehigh turn a 10-3 lead into a 15-3 advantage and Saint Peter's could never recover. A spike from Slater ended the set at 25-9 to give the Mountain Hawks a 2-0 match advantage. The Mountain Hawks hit a match-high .667 in the second set.
The third set started much like the second as Lehigh took a 9-0 lead behind the serve of freshman Megan Polak and three kills from Slater. Back-to-back kills from Polak later put the Mountain Hawks ahead 15-4 before the Peacocks were able to pull within nine at 21-12. The early deficit was too much to overcome, however, as a spike from sophomore Kelly Bennett recorded match point and Lehigh won a 25-13 set three and 3-0 match.
Lehigh hit an outstanding .458 against Saint Peter's. Krantz tallied a team-best 12 kills to go along with a .476 hitting percentage in the opener, while junior Katie Jennison recorded eight kills on 12 attempts with no errors for a .667 hitting percentage. Matula dished 15 assists while junior Mariah Brantley and freshman Emily Develle each recorded a team-best eight digs.
The Mountain Hawks got out to another quick start in the day's second game against Marist as Lehigh quickly got ahead 9-0 with Turner serving. Lehigh was able to extend its lead to 19-8 before Marist pulled back within eight thanks to a 4-0 run that put the score at 20-12 and forced a Lehigh timeout. The Mountain Hawks then closed the set on a 5-3 run with the help of three kills from Vrhel to earn a 25-15 set one victory and 1-0 match advantage.
The Red Foxes took an early 3-1 lead in the second set before Lehigh used a 6-1 run with the help of four blocks to grab a 7-3 advantage. Lehigh still controlled a comfortable lead at 13-8, but three kills from Kelsey Ediger helped Marist string together a 7-2 streak that knotted the set at 15. A Matula kill broke a 19-19 tie and sparked a 3-0 Mountain Hawk run that put Lehigh up 22-19 and forced a Marist timeout. A pair of kills from Slater gave Lehigh set point at 24-20 before a Krantz spike ended the set at 25-21 and put Lehigh ahead 2-0.
Another fast start helped Lehigh to a 6-1 lead in the third set. The Mountain Hawks held onto a comfortable lead until Marist strung together a 4-1 run that turned a six-point deficit into a three-point gap at 17-14. Krantz answered with a kill before two spikes from Turner re-extended Lehigh's advantage to 21-15. Marist wasn't able to climb back as a Turner kill secured match point and a 25-17 set three win and Lehigh's second 3-0 match victory of the day.
Krantz tallied a team-best ten kills against Marist, while Turner and Vrhel both chipped in nine and recorded hitting percentages higher than .400. Bradshaw secured 13 digs, while Matula dished 28 assists. Lehigh hit .262 as a team and limited Marist to just a .136 clip.
The Crosstown Invitational resumes Saturday at 10 a.m. when Lehigh faces Fairleigh Dickinson inside Leeman-Turner Arena at Grace Hall. The Mountain Hawks also take on Morehead State at 3:30 p.m. Free video of both matches will be available on the Patriot League Network.
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Team Stats
SPU
LEHIGH
Kills
20
45
Errors
15
7
Attempts
83
83
Hitting %
.060
.458
Points
23.0
63.0
Assists
19
40
Aces
1
10
Blocks
2.0
8.0
Game Leaders
Kills
12
Aces
0
Blocks
2
Kills
8
Aces
0
Blocks
2
Kills
8
Aces
0
Blocks
3
Kills
4
Aces
5
Blocks
0
Players Mentioned
MB
/ Volleyball
S
/ Volleyball
L
/ Volleyball
L
/ VolleyballMB
/ VolleyballOH
/ Volleyball
S
/ Volleyball
S
/ VolleyballRS
/ VolleyballOH
/ Volleyball
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