Friday, September 23
Annapolis, Md.
7 p.m.
Lehigh University
2-06-9. PL
3
at
1
Navy
10-3, 0-1PL
1
2
3
4
F
Lehigh
19
25
27
25
3
Navy
25
17
25
16
1
Lehigh Takes Down Navy to Earn Patriot League Road Win
9/23/2016 10:55:00 PM | Volleyball
ANNAPOLIS, Md. – The Lehigh volleyball team picked up its second-straight Patriot League victory of the season with a 3-1 win at Navy on Friday night. The Mountain Hawks are now 6-9 on the season and winners of their last two, while the Midshipmen fall to 10-3 and has their three-match win streak come to an end.
Lehigh battled to a hard-fought win in a pivotal third set to ultimately clinch the overall match victory. The Mountain Hawks opened up a six-point lead at one point in the set, but had to fend off a Navy comeback and overcome a late deficit in order to take the set, 27-25.
"The way we competed in the third set was critical for us because winning that set led us to winning the match," said head coach Bob Bertucci. "We controlled the set most of the way, but Navy came back and we really had to battle to get the win. We got a boost of momentum from that win and that allowed us to run away with it in the fourth set."
Freshman Jessica Donaldson led all players on the night with a season-high 21 kills to go with a stellar .349 hitting percentage. Sophomore Tori Hemsath contributed to the scoring effort with 12 kills and junior Kelly Bennett also reached double-figures with 10 kills to go along with four blocks.
Sophomore Megan Polak led all players with 46 assists, while also recording six kills and 11 digs. Freshman Emily Poole also had an all-around performance as she led all players with six total blocks to go along with five kills on a .308 hitting percentage.
Sophomore Emily Develle led all players with 25 digs and dished out 3 assists. Junior Hannah Chalk also contributed defensively with 12 digs.
Lehigh found a renewed net presence in tonight's match. The Mountain Hawks recorded 12 total blocks on the night, which matches their total number of blocks from the last six matches combined. The last time Lehigh reached double-figures was on Sept. 9 with 12 blocks against Northwestern State.
"Blocking has huge for us tonight and made a noticeable difference in the outcome of match," said Bertucci. "We made blocking a point of emphasis in practice leading up to the match because we knew we had to improve in that area and that preparation paid off tonight."
In the pivotal third set, Lehigh found a groove to start the set and opened up a 9-4 lead which forced Navy to call a timeout in order to put a damper on LU's early momentum. The stoppage by Navy initially had little effect as the Mountain Hawks maintained a comfortable lead, but the Midshipmen managed to stick around and eventually cut the deficit to one at 16-15 and forced Lehigh to burn a timeout to regroup.
Out of the timeout, Lehigh ripped off two-straight kills and opened a little breathing room with a three-point lead. However, the Mids refused to go away and came back to tie the match, 21-21, and force a Lehigh timeout. Out of the break, Navy completed the comeback by taking a 23-21 lead.
Despite giving up six-point lead and now facing a late deficit, the Mountain Hawks did not give in. Lehigh climbed back to tie the score, 24-24, and went on to capture three of the final four points, capped off by a kill by Hemsath to clinch the set.
Lehigh will look to keep the momentum rolling on Saturday and earn another Patriot League victory with a trip to Baltimore, Md. for a matchup with Loyola at 2 p.m.
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Team Stats
LEHIGH
NAVY
Kills
59
45
Errors
23
26
Attempts
156
156
Hitting %
.231
.122
Points
73.0
58.0
Assists
56
43
Aces
2
6
Blocks
12.0
7.0
Game Leaders
Kills-Aces-Blocks
Kills
21
Aces
0
Blocks
0
Kills
12
Aces
0
Blocks
3
Kills
10
Aces
0
Blocks
4
Kills
6
Aces
0
Blocks
2
Players Mentioned
MB
/ Volleyball
L/DS
/ Volleyball
L
/ VolleyballOH
/ VolleyballRS/OH
/ VolleyballS
/ Volleyball
MB
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