Wright, Bright lead Lehigh to sweep of Bucknell on Friday

Friday, November 2

Bethlehem, Pa.

7 p.m.

Lehigh University

18-7, 7-6PL

Bucknell

6-18, 1-12PL

Bucknell

Lehigh

Photo by: Hunter Julius

Wright, Bright lead Lehigh to sweep of Bucknell on Friday

11/2/2018 10:02:00 PM | Volleyball

Box Score Photo Gallery

BETHLEHEM, Pa. — Lehigh volleyball needed a win on Friday night and they got just that, taking down the Bucknell Bison at Leeman-Turner Arena at Grace Hall Friday night in straight sets, 25-21, 25-21, 25-21.

The Mountain Hawks had control of the match from the very beginning, and even erased a 16-10 deficit in the third set before coming back for the victory. With the win, Lehigh improves to 7-6 in the Patriot League, still all tied up with Loyola and Army West Point for the fourth and final seed heading into the Patriot League Tournament.

It was an all-around team effort for Lehigh, who hit .161 for the match, but held the Bison to a .096 mark for the match. It's been quite a while since the Mountain Hawks beat an opponent in three sets, dating back to Oct. 5 vs. Lafayette. The team played their best volleyball in quite a while and the goal is to use that momentum heading into the last three matches of the season.

"We had great practices this week that we worked really hard, we were really energized and very focused," said head coach Alexa Keckler. "Honestly, we had a set game plan going in and we did a great job of executing that.

"Our players also made great efforts of doing what we asked them to do. We were working on some different shots and trying some different things in practice and it was really great to see them go on the floor and implement that."

Lehigh had a spirited performance out of sophomore right-side hitter Hannah Wright, who finished the match with 18 kills, seven digs and three blocks. Wright was really on her game and it showed in the Mountain Hawks' victory.

"It was a really great performance from her," said Keckler. "She has the capability of taking over at any point so it was really nice to see her have the match she had tonight and to be that go-to player."

Sophomore Sabrina Lancaster added 12 kills for the Mountain Hawks along with eight digs. Junior Julia Pressly had eight kills and three digs, while junior Lauren Bright dominated with three kills and eight blocks.

Off the bench, Lehigh got big minutes from junior Jess Donaldson, sophomores Allison Garrett and Claire Nagelhout and freshman Sarah Carman.

"The cool thing about our team is that we definitely have that team-first mentality," Keckler said. "Everyone's ready to go when they're called upon and it's nice to be able to have them have that opportunity to go in and do what we need them to do."

Freshman setter Alina Lam tallied yet another double-double on the season, amassing 40 assists and 14 digs in three sets, while senior Emily Develle registered 14 digs, putting her just 18 shy of the Lehigh all-time record.

Blake Buchholz led the Bison with 10 kills, while Alexa Bonanno tallied 26 assists, eight digs and four kills.

This was a big win for the Mountain Hawks, but still have work to do to get into the Patriot League tournament with a match at Lafayette on Sunday and a visit to undefeated American on Tuesday.

"I know our matches the last couple weeks have been tough, battling into five sets and its physically and mentally exhausting for sure," said Keckler. "We have to remember to get back to the basics, get back to why we are here and recognize that it's the game of volleyball and it doesn't matter who is on the other side of the net, we just gotta have fun, we need to execute our game plan and enjoy the process."

Like Lehigh Volleyball on Facebook, follow on Twitter and Instagram for continued updates on the Mountain Hawks.