Lehigh drops hard-fought 3-2 final to Navy

BETHLEHEM, Pa. - The Lehigh volleyball team twice fought back from down a set, but couldn't complete the comeback as Navy went on to pick up a key win over the Mountain Hawks, 3-2 (25-22, 17-25, 25-18, 21-25, 15-10) on Friday in Leeman-Turner Arena. Freshman Julia Pressly led the Mountain Hawks with 18 kills while senior Katie Jennison had 14 kills. Lehigh falls to 12-13 and 7-4 in the league while the Midshipmen improve to 17-5 and 7-3 in the Patriot League.

"Like I said postgame to the team, I thought the effort was really good. We just have to get a little bit better," said Lehigh head coach Bob Bertucci. "We made some errors early on in the match that I had to do with managing our own emotions. With a young team, that's to be expected. But as we got into the game, we need to have more sophistication individually in what we do in certain situations."

Sophomore Megan Polak recorded 48 assists along with 11 digs while sophomore Emily Develle recorded a game-high 33 digs. Freshman Lauren Bright finished with a game-high eight blocks.

"At one point, we were hitting fairly well offensively, but we ended the game at .159," said Bertucci. "As long as we're around .200, we usually win the match."

In the first set, the Mountain Hawks staged a 3-0 run capped off by a kill from junior Kelly Bennett to take a 6-3 advantage. Navy responded by posting six of the next seven points to take a 9-7 lead. From there, neither team led by more than two as the teams went back and forth. Two straight Navy points gave the Mids a 23-21 advantage, on the way to a 25-22 first-set victory.

A similarly tight second set saw the score tied at one, two, three, four and five. The Mountain Hawks began to create separation around the midway point when they used a 5-0 run to turn an 8-7 deficit into a 12-8 lead. After Navy responded, the Mountain Hawks answered by taking their largest lead of the match, which came at the end of the set. Lehigh ended the set on a 3-0 run, which included kills from Polak and Bright, and a bad set to wrap up the 25-17 win, evening the match at two.

Navy opened a 7-2 lead in the third set, but the Mountain Hawks clawed back, eventually pulling as close as three at 13-10 following a Polack service ace. Lehigh went on to pull within two at 19-17, but that's as close as it would get. The Mids ended the set on a 6-1 run to pull out the 25-18 win, good for a 2-1 match lead.

Another tight set saw the teams trade leads in the early going. The Mountain Hawks began to pull away around the midway point as a mini 3-0 spurt gave Lehigh a 15-10 advantage following a kill from sophomore Victoria Hemsath. Navy fought back within one at 18-17 then again at 20-19, but the Mountain Hawks scored the last two points of the set, as a Bright kill and Navy attack error gave Lehigh the 25-21 win, evening the match at two.

In the fifth set, Navy used a 6-1 run to open an 8-3 lead. The Mountain Hawks wouldn't go away quietly, pulling within three at 12-9, but that's as close as they would come as the Midshipmen wrapped up the 15-10 set win and 3-2 match victory.

"I thought Navy played extremely well," said Bertucci. "They were very aggressive and very scrappy defensively, which made it really tough for us. They didn't give us anything unless we earned it."

Like Lehigh volleyball on Facebook and follow on Twitter for exclusive updates and content.

Next Event

Team Stats

Julia Pressly

Katie Jennison

Victoria Hemsath

Lauren Bright

Players Mentioned

Kelly Bennett

Lauren Bright

Emily Develle

Victoria Hemsath

Katie Jennison

Megan Polak

Julia Pressly

Lehigh University Athletics

Completed Event: Volleyball at #3 Army on November 18, 2025 , Loss , 0, to, 3

Completed Event: Volleyball at Loyola on November 15, 2025 , Loss , 0, to, 3

Completed Event: Volleyball versus Holy Cross on November 8, 2025 , Win , 3, to, 0

Completed Event: Volleyball versus Army on November 7, 2025 , Win , 3, to, 0

Completed Event: Volleyball versus Bucknell on November 2, 2025 , Loss , 0, to, 3

Completed Event: Volleyball versus Lafayette on October 31, 2025 , Win , 3, to, 0

Completed Event: Volleyball at Navy on October 25, 2025 , Loss , 1, to, 3