Mountain Hawks lose control of postseason destiny with loss in regular season finale

Friday, November 9

Bethlehem, Pa.

7 p.m.

Lehigh University

20-8, 9-7PL

Colgate

14-13, 9-6PL

Colgate University

Lehigh

Mountain Hawks lose control of postseason destiny with loss in regular season finale

11/9/2018 9:42:00 PM | Volleyball

Box Score

BETHLEHEM, Pa. – Facing an opportunity to lock up a Patriot League Tournament berth, the Lehigh volleyball team came up on the short end of a 3-0 score against Colgate Friday in the Mountain Hawks' regular season finale at Leeman-Turner Arena at Grace Hall. The visiting Raiders hit .294 to deal the Mountain Hawks just their second straight-set loss of the season.

Lehigh hit just .137 in the match. The Mountain Hawks were led by sophomore Sabrina Lancaster, who tallied nine kills with a .163 hitting percentage. Senior libero Emily Develle, who was honored prior to the match for breaking Lehigh's career digs record Tuesday at American, led the Mountain Hawks with 17 digs.

The Mountain Hawks all to 20-8 overall and finish Patriot League play at 9-7. Colgate improves to 14-13 overall and 9-6 in the league. Lehigh must now wait out the final two days of the league season to see if it will qualify for the Patriot League Tournament for the seventh time in the last eight seasons.

"There was a lot riding on the match here and I think we played tight," Lehigh head coach Alexa Keckler said. "When we play tight we're not as clean and crisp and successful. Colgate had a great match, they played very well defensively and we struggled to find our flow.

"I'm so proud of them regardless," Keckler continued. "They've worked hard this season and they've accomplished a lot. We had some great performances tonight and some ones that were not as strong. Ultimately, our fate is not in our hands anymore."

All three sets played out similarly, with Colgate going on early runs and Lehigh fighting back but not getting close enough. Set one saw the teams trade points early before the Raiders used a 5-1 run to take a 16-11 lead. Lehigh answered with four straight points, capped by an Alex Stein attack error and pulled within a point on three more occasions but the Mountain Hawks were never able to muster the tying point. A Jaelah Hutchinson kill gave Colgate a 25-22 set win.

Set two saw the visitors pull ahead 6-1 and then 9-2 forcing the Mountain Hawks to burn both of their timeouts early. Lehigh got no closer than three the remainder of the set as Colgate's 25-19 win put the Raiders up 2-0.

Back-to-back service aces by Alex Stein capped a 5-0 run in the third set which put Colgate up 10-5. Lehigh tried to battle back but never got closer than two points. A kill by junior Julia Pressly got the Mountain Hawks within 13-11, but Colgate scored six of the next seven points and eventually completed the sweep by taking the third set 25-18.

Taylor Flaherty led Colgate with 11 kills, while Stein added 10 kills and 19 digs. Raider libero Katie Stansbury finished with 29 digs.

Sophomore Hannah Wright added eight kills for Lehigh while freshman setter Alina Lam had 19 assists and nine digs.

"I was hoping that they would have embraced the last home match," Keckler said. "There was a lot of pressure that 'we have to do this,' instead of enjoying the opportunity to play one last time here in Grace Hall. We've had a great season. We've accomplished a lot this season. They've worked extremely hard. We've had some big wins and we've seen some success from so many different players this season. They have a lot to be proud of. I'm still proud of them regardless."

After losing control of its own destiny, Lehigh must now wait out the final two days of the regular season. The most likely path to the Patriot League Tournament for the Mountain Hawks would require a Colgate win over Loyola in Sunday's regular season finale in Hamilton, N.Y.

"It's always tricky at this point because it's not in our hands anymore," Keckler said. "It could be two days before we really have an idea of whether it's us or not. We can't control that. If we get in, it's going to be an exciting opportunity. We get a second chance and we've got to take advantage of that and start firing on all cylinders on everything we're doing. If it's not, then it's still on us."

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