Strong Attacking Powers Lehigh Past Saint Francis

Friday, September 1

Bethlehem, Pa.

7 p.m.

Lehigh University

3-2

Saint Francis

2-3

Saint Francis

Lehigh

Strong Attacking Powers Lehigh Past Saint Francis

9/1/2017 11:01:00 PM | Volleyball

Box Score

BETHLEHEM, Pa. – The Mountain Hawks looked dominant in a 3-0 victory over Saint Francis on Friday night at home in their opening match of the Crosstown Invitational. Lehigh posted set victories of 25-19, 25-21 and 25-11 over the Red Flash.

Lehigh (3-2) eclipsed the .300 mark in team hitting percentage for the second time this season with a percentage of .301 and matched its season-high with 48 kills. Sophomore Lauren Bright posted a .455 hitting percentage and tied her career-high with 12 kills to lead LU, while fellow sophomore Ana Spangenberg posted 10 kills and freshman Sabrina Lancaster recorded nine kills go with a stellar .471 hitting percentage.

Junior Megan Polak dished out a match-high 34 assists in addition to two kills and five digs. Junior libero Emily Develle lead all players with 14 digs to go along with five assists. Bright and Lancaster each posted a pair of solo blocks on the night.

Lehigh controlled the pace early over the Red Flash (2-3) in the first set by jumping out to a 7-3 lead aided by a trio of SFU hitting errors. SFU battled back to tie the score, 8-8, but a pair of kills by Julia Pressly and a service ace by Develle opened up a four-point lead for LU at 12-8. After jumping back in front, Lehigh never relinquished the lead and maintained a comfortable buffer for the remainder of the set in route to the 25-19 victory.

The Brown and White came out strong again in the second set and forced SFU to burn an early timeout following an 11-5 run. Four total services aces by Lehigh and a pair of kills by Emily Poole late on the opening run fueled LU's early lead. Out of the timeout, SFU ripped off four-straight points and eight of the next 10 to tie the set, 13-13. Three-straight kills by Bright put Lehigh ahead, 19-15, and forced the Red Flash into another timeout. The two sides swapped points and battled to the end, but two consecutive kills by Victoria Hemsath set up Bright for the winning kill late in the set.

A dreadful hitting performance by SFU in the third set doomed any hopes of a potential comeback as the Red Flash hit -.108 in the final set. SFU spotted Lehigh three of its first four points with consecutive attack errors as LU jumped out to a 4-0 lead. Two more attack errors and a service error awarded Lehigh an 8-4 lead as the set progressed. Back-to-back kills by Pressly, combined with a service ace by Polak had Lehigh in good shape heading into an SFU timeout ahead, 15-8. Out of the break, Lehigh closed the door by ripping off four unanswered points to take a commanding 19-8 advantage. Two-straight service aces by Allison Garrett set the table for Bright, Spangenberg and Lancaster to put the finishes touches on a 25-11 victory.

Lehigh will return to action on Saturday to wrap up the Crosstown Invitational with a doubleheader against Central Connecticut State (10 a.m.) and Norfolk State (4 p.m.) at Grace Hall.