Navy Retains League's Top Spot After Fending Off Lehigh

Tuesday, October 10

Annapolis, Md.

7 p.m.

Lehigh University

14-7, 5-2PL

Navy

17-3, 7-0PL

Team	1	2	3	4	Final F
Lehigh	19	25	14	18	1
Navy	25	23	25	25	3

Navy Retains League's Top Spot After Fending Off Lehigh

10/10/2017 11:31:00 PM | Volleyball

Box Score

ANNAPOLIS, Md. – The Midshipmen retained their spot atop the Patriot League standings as they defeated the Mountain Hawks, 3-1, on Tuesday night for their eighth-straight win in a battle of the league's top teams entering the night.

Navy (17-3, 7-0) made things difficult for Lehigh (14-7, 5-2) as the Mids held the Mountain Hawks to their lowest attack percentage in league play this season (.106). The league's top blocking team out-blocked Lehigh 9-5 on the night as Lehigh committed 25 attack errors for the match, compared to just 16 by Navy.

A trio of Midshipmen reached double-figures on the night, led by 15 kills by Maggie Phillips. Ana Spangenberg's nine kills led Lehigh, while Julia Pressly aided the offensive attack with eight. Navy's Katie Patrick led all players with seven blocks on the night.

Navy jumped on Lehigh early on and put together a well rounded first set. Lehigh cancelled out its eight kills in the first set with eight attack errors and managed just one block in the frame. The Mids hit .286 in the set and broke open a nine-point lead midway through which was too much for the Mountain Hawks to overcome.

LU bounced back in the second set, doubling their kill total from the first set and hit .238 in the frame. Spangenberg led all players with six kills in the set as she carried Lehigh with 19 total attacks in the second set alone. Lehigh fell into an early hole, but mounted a comeback as its hitters came alive through the middle of the set.

Lehigh won the first point of the third set, but Navy went on to win the next 10 and put in the Mountain Hawks in a deficit they could not recover from. Navy took a commanding 18-6 lead en route to a 25-14 victory as Lehigh hit -.030 in the frame.

The Mountain Hawks had a much better start to the fourth set, taking an initial 6-2 lead and eventually working out to a 13-8 advantage. Navy stormed back with a 7-0 run to take a 15-13 lead aided by three service aces by Maddi Sgattoni. The Mids never surrendered the lead from that point on and sealed the victory by ending the set on a 6-0 run.

The Mountain Hawks will look to rebound as they return home where they have played well this season. Lehigh will complete its first round of league matches with a matchup against Army West Point on Friday at 5 p.m.