Poole, Polak, Develle receive major awards at year-end banquet
12/3/2018 12:58:00 PM | Volleyball
BETHLEHEM, Pa. — The final chapter on the 2018 Lehigh volleyball season came to a close on Sunday evening, as the program hosted its season banquet to give out awards and honor the senior class.
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Two first-year Mountain Hawks received letters for the first time. The first-year letter winners were freshman Alina Lam and sophomore Claire Nagelhout. Sophomores Allison Garrett, Sabrina Lancaster and Hannah Wright received letters for the second time. Third-year letter winners include juniors Lauren Bright, Jess Donaldson, Emily Poole, Julia Pressly and senior Victoria Hemsath. Finally, to conclude their Lehigh careers, seniors Emily Develle and Megan Polak received letters for the fourth time.
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The Lehigh volleyball Scholar Athlete of the Year, awarded to the student-athlete who in the eyes of their teammates exemplifies the ideal candidate as a scholar-athlete, went to senior Megan Polak for the third year in a row. She currently has a cumulative 3.95 GPA and was named to the Google Cloud Academic All-District team for the second straight season. On the court, Polak ends her career fifth all-time in assists with 2,572.
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"Megan sets a great example for this team, she is such a hard-worker in the classroom and she is that because of the expectations she has for herself," said head coach Alexa Keckler. "She's extremely disciplined and organized and she wants to be successful and we're so proud of her. She's very deserving of this award."
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The Coaches' Award, awarded to the individual who made significant contributions to the well-being of the team in terms of attitude, improvement, or special leadership, went to senior co-captain Emily Develle for the second time in her career. Develle became the program's all-time digs leader, finishing her career with 1,721. Develle will go down in Lehigh volleyball history as one of the program's best players and her impact off the court has been as much or even more influential than on the court.
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"For me, the Coaches' Award really is an all-around player, someone who is coachable, who's passionate, who will hold their teammates and themselves accountable," said Keckler. "Emily is one of the best captains that I've ever had the opportunity and pleasure to work with. She had a team-first mentality all of the time, she exceeded on the court, she's a great student, so respectful, she's mindful of others around her, she sets the bar high and is extremely competitive.
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"It was such a rewarding experience for me to be able to work with someone who had all of those pieces and engrained in her and naturally you didn't have to ask for any of that stuff. She just went above and beyond and I think that's exactly what any coach would want in their program."
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Lehigh volleyball's Outstanding Athlete Award this season went to junior Emily Poole, who had quite the season for the Mountain Hawks, completely overhauling and elevating her role from the 2017 season. She stepped out of the woodwork and was named to the All-Patriot League Second Team. Poole led the league in blocks during the regular season with 128 and blocks per set with 1.17. The total also included 53 solo blocks. She also led the team in hitting percentage with a .315 mark and her stellar defense helped Lehigh achieve the best opponents' hitting percentage in the Patriot League, holding teams to a .164 mark.
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"Emily did an amazing job just being coachable, her attitude, her drive, she's not an emotional player," Keckler said. "So she just went out and did their job regardless. She was obviously a great blocker for us, but if that wasn't working for us, she didn't let that impact her ability to stay excited for everyone else on the court.
"To go in and still keep working hard, to ask 'what can I do better', 'how can I score, what's open what's there?' so I just think her mindset and her work ethic every day in the gym is something that really helped her to receive that respect and get her this award."
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Lehigh took major strides as a program this season in Keckler's first year as head coach. The Mountain Hawks finished 20-8 overall with a 9-7 league record. Lehigh started the season with a 12-1 record, the best start to a season in program history. Key wins included a victory over Rutgers, a sweep of archrival Lafayette and a three-set victory at American on Nov. 6, the Eagles' first time being swept by a Patriot League team at home in program history.
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After a major loss to Preseason All-Patriot League selection Ana Spangenberg due to injury after the third game of the season, the Mountain Hawks rebounded and stepped up in big way after big way. In many ways, this was a season of growth for Lehigh, but Keckler is excited for how this team continues to grow next season and the years to follow.
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"I think this was a great experience for all of us coaches and players and just recognizing how do we make the most of what we're given and how do we go get more," said Keckler. "So embracing a new culture and dealing with injury. Instead of looking at those things as a negative, I think we took every day, every opportunity and every bump in the road as an opportunity to learn and that's a lifelong lesson for any of us.
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"For me, that was a really good takeaway that we were fortunate to experience as well."
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Like Lehigh Volleyball on Facebook, follow on Twitter and Instagram for continued updates on the Mountain Hawks.
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Two first-year Mountain Hawks received letters for the first time. The first-year letter winners were freshman Alina Lam and sophomore Claire Nagelhout. Sophomores Allison Garrett, Sabrina Lancaster and Hannah Wright received letters for the second time. Third-year letter winners include juniors Lauren Bright, Jess Donaldson, Emily Poole, Julia Pressly and senior Victoria Hemsath. Finally, to conclude their Lehigh careers, seniors Emily Develle and Megan Polak received letters for the fourth time.
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The Lehigh volleyball Scholar Athlete of the Year, awarded to the student-athlete who in the eyes of their teammates exemplifies the ideal candidate as a scholar-athlete, went to senior Megan Polak for the third year in a row. She currently has a cumulative 3.95 GPA and was named to the Google Cloud Academic All-District team for the second straight season. On the court, Polak ends her career fifth all-time in assists with 2,572.
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"Megan sets a great example for this team, she is such a hard-worker in the classroom and she is that because of the expectations she has for herself," said head coach Alexa Keckler. "She's extremely disciplined and organized and she wants to be successful and we're so proud of her. She's very deserving of this award."
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The Coaches' Award, awarded to the individual who made significant contributions to the well-being of the team in terms of attitude, improvement, or special leadership, went to senior co-captain Emily Develle for the second time in her career. Develle became the program's all-time digs leader, finishing her career with 1,721. Develle will go down in Lehigh volleyball history as one of the program's best players and her impact off the court has been as much or even more influential than on the court.
Â
"For me, the Coaches' Award really is an all-around player, someone who is coachable, who's passionate, who will hold their teammates and themselves accountable," said Keckler. "Emily is one of the best captains that I've ever had the opportunity and pleasure to work with. She had a team-first mentality all of the time, she exceeded on the court, she's a great student, so respectful, she's mindful of others around her, she sets the bar high and is extremely competitive.
Â
"It was such a rewarding experience for me to be able to work with someone who had all of those pieces and engrained in her and naturally you didn't have to ask for any of that stuff. She just went above and beyond and I think that's exactly what any coach would want in their program."
Â
Lehigh volleyball's Outstanding Athlete Award this season went to junior Emily Poole, who had quite the season for the Mountain Hawks, completely overhauling and elevating her role from the 2017 season. She stepped out of the woodwork and was named to the All-Patriot League Second Team. Poole led the league in blocks during the regular season with 128 and blocks per set with 1.17. The total also included 53 solo blocks. She also led the team in hitting percentage with a .315 mark and her stellar defense helped Lehigh achieve the best opponents' hitting percentage in the Patriot League, holding teams to a .164 mark.
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"Emily did an amazing job just being coachable, her attitude, her drive, she's not an emotional player," Keckler said. "So she just went out and did their job regardless. She was obviously a great blocker for us, but if that wasn't working for us, she didn't let that impact her ability to stay excited for everyone else on the court.
"To go in and still keep working hard, to ask 'what can I do better', 'how can I score, what's open what's there?' so I just think her mindset and her work ethic every day in the gym is something that really helped her to receive that respect and get her this award."
Â
Lehigh took major strides as a program this season in Keckler's first year as head coach. The Mountain Hawks finished 20-8 overall with a 9-7 league record. Lehigh started the season with a 12-1 record, the best start to a season in program history. Key wins included a victory over Rutgers, a sweep of archrival Lafayette and a three-set victory at American on Nov. 6, the Eagles' first time being swept by a Patriot League team at home in program history.
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After a major loss to Preseason All-Patriot League selection Ana Spangenberg due to injury after the third game of the season, the Mountain Hawks rebounded and stepped up in big way after big way. In many ways, this was a season of growth for Lehigh, but Keckler is excited for how this team continues to grow next season and the years to follow.
Â
"I think this was a great experience for all of us coaches and players and just recognizing how do we make the most of what we're given and how do we go get more," said Keckler. "So embracing a new culture and dealing with injury. Instead of looking at those things as a negative, I think we took every day, every opportunity and every bump in the road as an opportunity to learn and that's a lifelong lesson for any of us.
Â
"For me, that was a really good takeaway that we were fortunate to experience as well."
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Like Lehigh Volleyball on Facebook, follow on Twitter and Instagram for continued updates on the Mountain Hawks.
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Players Mentioned
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