Develle becomes career digs leader as Lehigh sweeps first place American

Tuesday, November 6

Washington, D.C.

7 p.m.

Lehigh University

20-7, 9-6PL

American

19-11, 13-2PL

Lehigh

American

Photo by: Josh Liddick

Develle becomes career digs leader as Lehigh sweeps first place American

11/6/2018 10:29:00 PM | Volleyball

Box Score

WASHINGTON, D.C. — After back-to-back victories over Bucknell and Lafayette, the Lehigh volleyball team came to play on Tuesday night, defeating the Patriot League's first place American Eagles in straight sets, 25-21, 25-23, 25-17 to get revenge following a heartbreaking five-set defeat at Leeman-Turner Arena at Grace Hall back on Oct. 9.

It was a dominant performance for the Mountain Hawks, who pushed American against the wall and to its breaking point, extending the Eagles' losing streak to two straight.

The match was filled with big nights for many of Lehigh's key players, but was highlighted by a historic moment for the volleyball program as senior libero Emily Develle became Lehigh's all-time digs leader, tallying 12 digs for the match. She now has 1,706 for her career.

"We worked quite a bit in practice this past week preparing for American and our game plan was implemented very well," said head coach Alexa Keckler. "The girls did a great job sustaining all match long and I'm so proud of how hard they've worked to get to this point.

"As for Emily (Develle), she is such a humble player, role model and leader for this program," said Keckler. "She knew the record was coming, we talked about it, but she would've much rather won the game than get the record.

"It was so awesome to see her accomplish that feat on such a great night. This is a match she is never going to forget."

The Mountain Hawks got a big push from sophomore Sabrina Lancaster, who returned to the court after missing Sunday's match against Lafayette. The Sabrina the team got on Tuesday evening was shades of the dominant Sabrina seen at the beginning of the season. Lancaster finished the match with a team-high 14 kills and a season-high .478 hitting percentage.

She obviously came out big tonight for us," Keckler said. "She found the floor, had good blocks and was just in an all-around good position all night long. She definitely pushed through fatigue, but having her out there tonight made a huge difference for us.

"Alina Lam definitely spread the ball to help Sabrina and our middles held the blocks. The whole team stepped up to the plate and executed from the very beginning."

Lam finished the night with 35 assists and three digs. She has now tallied 30 or more assists in her last six outings.

Lehigh also got another top-notch performance from Patriot League Player of the Week Hannah Wright, who had 13 kills with six digs and three blocks with a .375 hitting percentage to pace the Mountain Hawks.

Junior Lauren Bright had five kills with five blocks, while junior Emily Poole went 5-for-10 for a .500 hitting mark with three solo blocks.

Junior Julia Pressly also added eight kills, the third most on the team.

As a team, the Mountain Hawks hit .350, hitting over .300 in all three sets. The .350 percentage is the highest Lehigh has hit in a match since Oct. 7 at Bucknell, when the team hit .324 in four sets. Tuesday's mark is also the second-highest total this season. The Mountain Hawks hit .375 on Sept. 1 vs. Coppin State.

American was held to a .247 hitting percentage, including .194 in the third set as Aleksandra Kazala led the team with 14 kills and six digs. Helena Elbaek had 13 kills, while Shannon Webb added five. Elbaek had a game-high .522 hitting percentage.

For the Mountain Hawks, the win over American could be the most dominating win of the season for a team that just won their 20th match of the season. The victory over the first place Eagles will surely set the tone for the rest of the season with only one match to play on Friday against Colgate before the Patriot League tournament.

"I really do think this win is a huge confidence booster for us," said Keckler. "We played sharp, crisp volleyball tonight, stepped right onto the court and played with authority.

"It shows who we can be and what kind of volleyball we can play on any given night. I think tonight is a great example of what happens when we execute our game plan and respond back to their adjustments. We want to be much more successful on Friday, now that we have a second chance against Colgate. We need to get right back to work tomorrow in the gym and really prepare for them on Friday."

Lehigh defeated American for just the seventh time in program history. The Eagles lead the all-time series, 36-7.

Friday's match will be the final regular season match at home for Lehigh. The Mountain Hawks will clinch a spot in the Patriot League tournament with a victory over Colgate. The match will be streamed live on the Patriot League Network.

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