Mountain Hawks shock American with 3-0 sweep

BETHLEHEM, Pa. - The Lehigh volleyball team came back from a first-set deficit and wouldn't look back, downing the first place and undefeated American Eagles, 3-0 (25-20, 25-18 and 25-19) on Senior Day Saturday in Leeman-Turner Arena. The Mountain Hawks earned a sweep over an American team that came in with 15 straight wins and nine straight sweeps. Freshman Ana Spangenberg led the offense with a game-high 16 kills behind a .609 hitting percentage. Freshman Julia Pressly added 12 kills while sophomore Megan Polack posted a team-leading 28 assists.

Saturday marked Lehigh's first 3-0 sweep of American since 2011 and second in school history. The Eagles hadn't lost a set since Oct. 4 vs. Navy.

(11/5/2016) Volleyball vs. American, 11/5/16

"American is a great team," said Lehigh head coach Bob Bertucci. "As I told the team, it's nice to have a good game plan, but the execution is what happened tonight. It was all about the way the team approached the game mentally and physically. They went after it and executed. They played really well."

A close first set saw neither team lead by more than two until the middle stages when the Mountain Hawks used a 3-0 run to turn a 10-10 tie into a 13-10 advantage, capped off by a pair of service aces from Polack. Lehigh's lead reached four at 16-12 following consecutive kills from Spangenberg then American recorded four of the next six points to pull within 18-16, but the Mountain Hawks had an answer. Leading 23-20, Lehigh wrapped up the 25-20 first-set victory with kills from senior Katie Jennison and Spangenberg.

Lehigh impressed early in the second set, using a 4-0 run to take a 7-2 advantage following another kill from Spangenberg. The Mountain Hawks continued to control play, extending their lead to 14-6 after a kill from junior Kelly Bennett. The Eagles pulled back within five on multiple occasions, but couldn't get any closer as a blocking error wrapped up Lehigh's 25-18 set victory for a 2-0 match lead.

The teams went back and forth in the third set with multiple ties and lead changes. American used a 4-0 run to open a 16-13 advantage, but the Mountain Hawks responded with a monster 9-0 run, beginning and ending with kills from Tori Hemsath, giving Lehigh a 22-16 advantage. A few points later, a kill from Bright wrapped up the 25-19 third-set victory and 3-0 match victory.

Saturday marked Spangenberg's second straight match with double-figure kills as she helped the Mountain Hawks hit .337 as a team, led by a .438 mark in the second set.

"She rose to the occasion and played tremendously," said Bertucci. "She just lit it up for us and I'm really excited for her."

Saturday was also Lehigh's Senior Day as Jennison and Mariah Brantley were recognized prior to their final regular season home match.

"Both Mariah and KJ have been exemplary players for us their whole careers, on and off the court," said Bertucci. "They've just been great leaders for our team in a number of different ways. They're really selfless kinds of people. They do everything for the team. I really appreciate them and I think our team appreciates them and decided they wanted to make sure their last home game was a win."

With the win, Lehigh improves to 8-6 in league play, tied with Navy for the fourth and final Patriot League Tournament spot. The Mountain Hawks will wrap up their regular season next weekend, at Army West Point and Holy Cross.

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Team Stats

Ana Spangenberg

Julia Pressly

Katie Jennison

Victoria Hemsath

Players Mentioned

Kelly Bennett

Mariah Brantley

Katie Jennison

Julia Pressly

Ana Spangenberg

Lehigh University Athletics

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