Friday, August 24
Bethlehem, Pa.
7:30 p.m.
Lehigh University
1-0
3
vs
1
Duquesne
0-1
1
2
3
4
F
Duquesne
18
16
25
23
1
Lehigh
25
25
17
25
3
Mountain Hawks open season with 3-1 home win over Duquesne
8/24/2018 10:34:00 PM | Volleyball
BETHLEHEM, Pa. – The Lehigh volleyball team made head coach Alexa Keckler's debut a victorious one as the Mountain Hawks downed Duquesne 3-1 Friday night in the season opener for both teams at Stabler Arena. The Mountain Hawks won the first two sets and bounced back after dropping the third set and falling behind early in the fourth to claim the match with a 25-23 win in the fourth set.
"We came out really aggressive," said Keckler. "I was really excited with the level and tone we were playing at. As we approached that third set we became a little too complacent, and had a couple unforced errors that were problematic in our ability to run our offense. It was good to bounce back from that.
"That fourth set was incredibly competitive and it was nice to see how we could rise to the occasion and find out who can handle the ball under pressure and who we still need to work with a little bit but ultimately, I'm very excited and pleased with how the match went."
Lehigh hit .239 for the match and had nine total blocks. Junior Ana Spangenberg led the Mountain Hawks with 20 kills and added 11 digs for the double-double. Classmate Emily Poole had a team-best .438 hitting percentage with eight kills and had six solo blocks on the night. Senior Megan Polak handed out 44 assists and added nine digs.
"Megan did an amazing job of spreading the ball around," Keckler said. "We're still working on specific routes we want to run and still connecting with that, but she did an amazing job of spreading the ball. Our hitters, minus the third set, did a really nice job controlling the ball based on the set that they were given. We were giving the hitters the objective of where they were supposed to score and they were hitting those spots which helped them when they can see the results."
In the opening set, Lehigh went up 12-7 on a Spangenberg service ace before Duquesne pulled even at 15-15. Two kills from junior Julia Pressly established a lead Lehigh would not relinquish. A bad set by Duquesne gave Lehigh a 25-18 win in the opening set.
Lehigh never trailed in the second set, hitting .364. Back-to-back kills from Poole gave Lehigh a 10-5 lead. The Dukes got back within 16-14 before the Mountain Hawks closed the set on a 9-2 run, and closed out the set 25-16 thanks to three straight Dukes miscues.
The Mountain Hawks scored the first two points of the third set before Duquesne reeled off seven straight. Lehigh hit .310 in the set but Duquesne had its best performance of the match, hitting .379 in the set. The lead reached seven on two occasions before Lehigh used a 6-0 run to pull within 18-17, but the Dukes ran off the final seven points to claim a 25-17 win and extend the match.
The fourth set was tightly contested with several lead changes. Neither team led by more than two points at any point in the set. The Mountain Hawks trailed 23-21 before pulling even on an attack error followed by Spangenberg's 20th kill. Another Dukes attack error followed by a bad set provided the final two points in the Lehigh victory.
"Emily Poole was a blocking machine," Keckler said. "She did an amazing job defensively. We got some great swings out of Lauren Bright and even our outsides. We shuffled through a couple of outsides but all of them were putting up some really good swings."
Senior Emily Develle and sophomore Allison Garrett also reached double-figure digs with 12 and 10, respectively.
Duquesne was led by Kori Johnson's 11 kills. The Dukes hit just .134 for the match.
Lehigh will play Saint Peter's Monday at Lafayette with first serve set for 3 p.m. from Kirby Sports Center in Easton, Pa.
"We came out really aggressive," said Keckler. "I was really excited with the level and tone we were playing at. As we approached that third set we became a little too complacent, and had a couple unforced errors that were problematic in our ability to run our offense. It was good to bounce back from that.
"That fourth set was incredibly competitive and it was nice to see how we could rise to the occasion and find out who can handle the ball under pressure and who we still need to work with a little bit but ultimately, I'm very excited and pleased with how the match went."
Lehigh hit .239 for the match and had nine total blocks. Junior Ana Spangenberg led the Mountain Hawks with 20 kills and added 11 digs for the double-double. Classmate Emily Poole had a team-best .438 hitting percentage with eight kills and had six solo blocks on the night. Senior Megan Polak handed out 44 assists and added nine digs.
"Megan did an amazing job of spreading the ball around," Keckler said. "We're still working on specific routes we want to run and still connecting with that, but she did an amazing job of spreading the ball. Our hitters, minus the third set, did a really nice job controlling the ball based on the set that they were given. We were giving the hitters the objective of where they were supposed to score and they were hitting those spots which helped them when they can see the results."
In the opening set, Lehigh went up 12-7 on a Spangenberg service ace before Duquesne pulled even at 15-15. Two kills from junior Julia Pressly established a lead Lehigh would not relinquish. A bad set by Duquesne gave Lehigh a 25-18 win in the opening set.
Lehigh never trailed in the second set, hitting .364. Back-to-back kills from Poole gave Lehigh a 10-5 lead. The Dukes got back within 16-14 before the Mountain Hawks closed the set on a 9-2 run, and closed out the set 25-16 thanks to three straight Dukes miscues.
The Mountain Hawks scored the first two points of the third set before Duquesne reeled off seven straight. Lehigh hit .310 in the set but Duquesne had its best performance of the match, hitting .379 in the set. The lead reached seven on two occasions before Lehigh used a 6-0 run to pull within 18-17, but the Dukes ran off the final seven points to claim a 25-17 win and extend the match.
The fourth set was tightly contested with several lead changes. Neither team led by more than two points at any point in the set. The Mountain Hawks trailed 23-21 before pulling even on an attack error followed by Spangenberg's 20th kill. Another Dukes attack error followed by a bad set provided the final two points in the Lehigh victory.
"Emily Poole was a blocking machine," Keckler said. "She did an amazing job defensively. We got some great swings out of Lauren Bright and even our outsides. We shuffled through a couple of outsides but all of them were putting up some really good swings."
Senior Emily Develle and sophomore Allison Garrett also reached double-figure digs with 12 and 10, respectively.
Duquesne was led by Kori Johnson's 11 kills. The Dukes hit just .134 for the match.
Lehigh will play Saint Peter's Monday at Lafayette with first serve set for 3 p.m. from Kirby Sports Center in Easton, Pa.
Team Stats
DUQ
LEHIGH
Kills
43
55
Errors
24
21
Attempts
142
142
Hitting %
.134
.239
Points
57.0
70.0
Assists
40
50
Aces
8
6
Blocks
6.0
9.0
Game Leaders
Kills
20
Aces
2
Blocks
0
Kills
11
Aces
0
Blocks
1
Kills
8
Aces
1
Blocks
3
Kills
8
Aces
0
Blocks
6
Players Mentioned
MB
/ Volleyball
L
/ Volleyball
DS
/ Volleyball
S
/ VolleyballMB
/ VolleyballOH
/ VolleyballRS
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