Saturday, September 17
Pittsburgh, Pa.
10 a.m.
Lehigh University
4-8
0
at
3
Pittsburgh
8-3
1
2
3
F
Lehigh
21
13
16
0
Pitt
25
25
25
3
Lehigh Faces Tough Competition on Final Day of Panther Challenge
9/17/2016 7:41:00 PM | Volleyball
PITTSBURGH, Pa. – The Lehigh volleyball team suffered a pair of 3-0 losses on the final day of the Panther Challenge on Saturday against two teams ranked just outside the national top-25 in Pittsburgh and Western Kentucky. The Mountain Hawks are now 4-9 on the season, while the Panthers are now 8-3 and the Hilltoppers are 12-2.
Emily Develle led Lehigh with 27 digs on the day to go along with five assists. Megan Polak dished out a total of 35 assists to lead the team on the day to go with five kills and eight digs. Kelly Bennett and Tori Hemsath each recorded nine kills to lead the Mountain Hawks.
Lehigh trailed Pitt 7-5 early in the first set before the Panthers opened up a 12-5 lead on a 5-0 run. Pitt maintained a comfortable lead until the Mountain Hawks went on a 6-2 run towards the end of the set to cut the deficit to 24-21. The Panthers would eventually record a kill to end the set at 25-21.
The second set remained close into the middle stages as Pitt held a slim 12-11 lead. Lehigh received kills from four different players to that point. The Panthers broke open a 16-11 lead with four unanswered points and then put the set away with a 9-2 run to end the second set and win by a score of 25-13.
The third set also remained close through the beginning and middle stages with Lehigh exchanging lead changes with the Panthers. The Mountain Hawks remained within striking distance as they only trailed 19-16, but then Pitt shut the door with six unanswered points to win the set, 25-16, and complete the 3-0 sweep.
Lehigh took a 4-3 lead over Western Kentucky to start the first set with kills by three different players and a service ace. After an exchange of scoring by both teams, the Hilltoppers would go on a 6-0 run to open up an 18-9 lead and maintained that cushion all the way to the end for a 25-13 set victory.
The Mountain Hawks looked very strong in the second set and held the lead on eight different occasions as they went back and forth with the Hilltoppers. Lehigh took a late 21-20 lead on back-to-back kills by Katie Jennison, but Western Kentucky put a stop to the Mountain Hawk momentum with a 5-0 run to win the second set, 25-21.
Western Kentucky controlled the momentum throughout most of the third set. Two errors by the Hilltoppers allowed Lehigh to creep up to a 10-8 deficit, but then Western Kentucky regained composer and went on a 12-1 run to open a 22-9 lead and hold on for a 25-14 win.
The Mountain Hawks will return to the court on Wednesday when they host rival Lafayette in their Patriot League opener at 7 p.m.
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Team Stats
LEHIGH
UP
Kills
26
42
Errors
17
11
Attempts
83
89
Hitting %
.108
.348
Points
30.0
59.5
Assists
25
38
Aces
3
10
Blocks
1.0
7.5
Game Leaders
Kills-Aces-Blocks
Kills
6
Aces
1
Blocks
0
Kills
4
Aces
0
Blocks
0
Kills
4
Aces
0
Blocks
0
Kills
3
Aces
0
Blocks
0
Players Mentioned
MB
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/ VolleyballRS/OH
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