Saturday, October 15
4 p.m.
Lehigh University
10-12, 5-3PL
1
vs
3
Army
14-8, 6-2PL
1
2
3
4
F
Army West Point
29
25
16
25
3
Lehigh
27
22
25
20
1
Lehigh Comes Up Short in Competitive Battle with Army
10/15/2016 9:58:00 PM | Volleyball
BETHLEHEM, Pa. – The Lehigh volleyball team had a chance at its second comeback victory of the week after winning a lopsided third set, but Army West Point dismissed those hopes by edging out Lehigh in the fourth set to win the match 3-1 on Saturday afternoon. The Black Knights move ahead of Lehigh in the standings Patriot League as they are now 6-2 in the conference and 14-8 overall. Lehigh is now 5-3 in the PL with an overall record of 10-12.
"It was a hard-fought match between two teams who I believe are fairly evenly matched," said head coach Bob Bertucci. "I was proud of how our players battled and performed overall. We just gave away a few points here and there which ultimately made the difference."
Freshman Julia Pressly led Lehigh offensively with a season-high 14 kills as she hit .313 on the day. Sophomore Megan Polak recorded a match-high 40 assists and now has over 40 assists on six different occasions this season.
Polak and fellow sophomore Emily Develle finished tied for the team lead with 14 digs. Freshman Lauren Bright recorded two solo blocks and four assists to go along with 10 kills. Junior Kelly Bennett posted a season-high six service aces to go with nine kills.
Lehigh began the first set with a 3-1 lead starting with a service ace by Polak, but Army quickly rallied back and tied the match, 4-4, as the Black Knights scored an ace of their own. From that point, a back-and-forth battled ensued until a 7-2 run put Army ahead 20-15 and forced a Lehigh timeout. Out of the break, the two teams traded points as Army opened up a 23-18 lead and forced another LU timeout. Following that break, Lehigh came out with a 4-1 run led by two kills from freshman Emily Poole and cut the deficit to 24-22.
After an Army timeout, Lehigh tacked on three-straight points, capped off with a kill by Bennett to go ahead 25-24. The two teams would go back-and-forth as the set progressed to a 27-27 tie. Army broke the trend by scoring consecutive points on a kill and a Lehigh error to take the necessary two-point advantage to win the set, 29-27.
The Mountain Hawks jumped out to a 5-1 lead to start the second set, capped by back-to-back kills by Poole. Lehigh extended the lead to 7-2 before the Black Knights chipped away and tied the set, 11-11. The set would be tied three more times until Army used a 5-0 run to open up a 20-15 lead. Back-to-back kills by Pressly cut the deficit to 21-19, but Lehigh could not break through the two-point deficit and ultimately fell in the second set, 25-22.
The third set started with a neck-and-neck battle before a 6-0 run took Lehigh from down 5-4 to ahead 10-5, highlighted by two service aces by Bennett and two kills by Pressly. Lehigh protected its lead and capitalized on some Army miscues to take a 17-11 lead. Lehigh pulled away and put the set out of reach as Bennett ripped off four-straight service aces to go ahead 23-14. Kills by Pressly and Bright would give the Mountain Hawks the necessary points as they went on to win the third set 25-16.
Following a dominating performance in the third set, Lehigh found itself in an early hole to start the fourth as Army jumped out to a 7-2 lead. A 4-1 run for Lehigh put LU back in the mix, trailing 8-6. Army remained tough, never allowing the lead to fall below two points through the middle stages of the set. Lehigh had a chance late, only trailing 21-18, but the Black Knights finished the set on a 4-2 advantage to win 25-20.
The statistical comparison showed a narrow advantage for the Black Knights. Army accumulated 74 total points, while Lehigh totaled 73. Army finished with a .301 hitting percentage with 17 attack errors as Lehigh compiled a .254 percentage with 19 errors. It's the first time this season Lehigh has lost a match while hitting .200 or better. The Mountain Hawks are now 7-1 in those matches.
Lehigh will return to action on Tuesday night with a trip to rival Lafayette. Action is slated to get underway in Easton, Pa. at 7 p.m.
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Team Stats
ARMY
LEHIGH
Kills
63
55
Errors
17
19
Attempts
153
142
Hitting %
.301
.254
Points
74.0
73.0
Assists
61
52
Aces
5
9
Blocks
6.0
9.0
Game Leaders
Kills
14
Aces
0
Blocks
0
Kills
11
Aces
0
Blocks
0
Kills
10
Aces
0
Blocks
6
Kills
9
Aces
6
Blocks
2
Players Mentioned
MB
/ VolleyballMB
/ Volleyball
L
/ Volleyball
S
/ Volleyball
MB
/ VolleyballOH
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