Lehigh Falls in Four Sets at Bucknell

LEWISBURG, Pa. – After winning the opening set, the Lehigh volleyball team saw Bucknell rip off three-straight set wins to ultimately win the match, 3-1 (17-25, 25-21, 25-22, 25-17), on Friday night at Davis Gym. The Bison are now 5-18 on the season and are 3-8 in the Patriot League. The Mountain Hawks fall to 12-14 and are now 7-5 in the conference.

Julia Pressly led Lehigh in kills for the fifth-straight match as she notched 12 on the night. Megan Polak handed out 41 assists for her second-consecutive 40-plus assist performance and eighth overall of the season.

Kelly Bennett led LU with a season-high seven total blocks on the night. Emily Develle posted a team-high 17 digs, while Mariah Brantely recorded 13.

The Mountain Hawks opened the first set on fire, jumping out to a 10-4 lead to force Bucknell to burn a timeout in attempt to slow the momentum. Out of the break, Lehigh continued to maintain its comfortable margin, extending the lead to 17-10 and forcing Bucknell into its second timeout. The Bison used a 3-0 run out of the break and cut the deficit to 17-13, but then a service error and an attack error awarded Lehigh consecutive points and spoiled the Bucknell momentum. From that point, Lehigh closed out the set with a 6-4 advantage, led in kills by Ana Spangenberg with two.

Bucknell came out on fire to start the second set and never relinquished the lead for the remainder of the set. The Bison led by as much as eight at the height of their lead with a 14-6 margin. The Mountain Hawks made a valiant effort at a comeback and tied the set 17-17, but could not get over the hump as Bucknell went on a 5-0 run to open up a 22-17 advantage. Lehigh out-scored the Bison 4-3 in the final stages, but the deficit was too much to overcome as Bucknell claimed the 25-21 set win.

Lehigh jumped out to 4-0 lead to start the third set on kills by Lauren Bright and Spangenberg. Bucknell did not waver despite the early deficit and instead rallied back and used a 3-0 run cut the deficit to 5-4. A kill and a service ace by Develle powered a 3-0 counter for Lehigh as the Mountain Hawks jumped out to an 8-4 advantage. Bucknell showed great composure once again and managed to put together a 5-1 run and take a 10-9 advantage for its first lead of the set. The set would go back-and-forth with multiple lead changes before coming to a 16-16 tie. From that point, Bucknell went ahead 20-16 and did not surrendered the lead for the rest of the set despite a comeback attempt by Lehigh.

The fourth set started out as the most closely contested set of the night. An 8-5 Lehigh lead was the largest lead through the earlier stages of the set. A 6-1 Bucknell run through the middle of the set shifted the momentum in the Bison's favor as they took a 14-12 lead. Errors plagued the Mountain Hawks during that run as they handed Bucknell three points on two service errors and an attack error. The Bison continued to pile on, opening up a 22-14 lead before Lehigh recorded its first kill since once leading 11-8 earlier in the set. Lehigh received consecutive kills by Pressly to make the score 24-17, but a late comeback was not meant to be as Bucknell scored a kill to take the third set 25-17 and win the match.

Tonight's win for Bucknell snaps a five-match losing streak on the season and also ends a seven-match winless drought against Lehigh. The Bison last defeated Lehigh in 2012 and that match was also in Lewisburg.

The Mountain Hawks will have to quickly move on from the loss to Bucknell as they have a quick turnaround and tough opponent in Colgate coming into Leeman-Turner Arena on Saturday. Opening serve is set to go off at 4 p.m.

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Team Stats

Julia Pressly

Lauren Bright

Victoria Hemsath

Kelly Bennett

Players Mentioned

Kelly Bennett

Lauren Bright

Emily Develle

Megan Polak

Julia Pressly

Ana Spangenberg

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