Lehigh's win over Mason 'a great test' heading into Patriot League play

Friday, September 14

Fairfax, Va.

7 p.m.

Lehigh University

11-1

George Mason

2-8

Lehigh

George Mason

Alina Lam Sabrina Lancaster, Emily Poole

Lehigh's win over Mason 'a great test' heading into Patriot League play

9/14/2018 10:26:00 PM | Volleyball

Box Score

FAIRFAX, Va. — The Lehigh Mountain Hawks were never supposed to be playing at George Mason on Friday night, but because of Hurricane Florence canceling the Colonial Classic in Williamsburg, the Mountain Hawks found themselves playing the Patriots in a closely contested matchup.

For the second match in a row, the Mountain Hawks trailed after the first set. However, for the second match in a row, Lehigh claimed the final three sets by scores of 25-19, 25-20, and 27-25 to glide to victory.

"I actually think we played pretty decent in the first set, but we let them battle back in and lost our focus in attacking," said head coach Alexa Keckler. "Defensively we made a few adjustments, switched our offense over to a 6-2, giving us a bigger front line and bigger blocks."

Lehigh had one of its more inconsistent hitting nights of the regular season so far, starting out slow hitting .111 in the first set, before hitting .333 in the second, back down to .229 in the third and finishing out the long fourth set with a hitting percentage of .293. The good news for the Mountain Hawks is that the way they hit for most of the night didn't dictate what the final result became.

"We found some openings, but it took us a little bit to get going," said Keckler. "Once we figured out what was open and available, we found our groove for the rest of the match."

Keeping up with her play from her last start on Tuesday night where she tallied a career-high 22 kills, sophomore Sabrina Lancaster notched 18 kills and six digs with two service aces in her homecoming match. Lancaster's hometown of Woodbridge, Va. is only 20 minutes away from George Mason's campus.

The Mountain Hawks are very fortunate to have a lineup with tons of depth, one of the main reasons they have been so successful this early in the season. Patriot League Rookie of the Week Alina Lam got the start, but senior Megan Polak provided extremely valuable minutes off the bench to guide Lehigh to victory. Lam capitalized on her performances in her last two starts with 26 assists and 13 digs, good enough for her first career double-double. Polak added 25 assists and 11 digs for her fourth double-double of the year.

"It's so big to have both Alina and Megan as a part of our offense," Keckler said. "There's so much flexibility in our offense with those two, and that allows us to do different things against our opponents.

"Their consistency during the match really paid off for us."

Sophomore Hannah Wright finished with 15 kills and four digs, while junior Julia Pressly added eight kills and five digs.

Senior Victoria Hemsath was inserted back into the lineup in the right place at the right time, as she provided a huge offensive spark in the final three sets. Hemsath had six kills and six blocks all while hitting at a .385 mark for the match.

The Patriots had two players that did most of the work for the team in Bailey Williams and Siron Hardy, who proved to be a big obstacle to overcome for the Mountain Hawks for most of the night. Williams had 17 kills and nine digs, while Hardy added 13 kills. George Mason's environment was a tough one to play in for Lehigh, especially with little time to prepare for them, considering Williamsburg was the initial game plan.

"We were definitely excited to get a match in this weekend, but we were definitely dealt a tricky hand," said Keckler. "I think we were excited to play in that kind of environment and embraced the opportunity we were given. We responded well on the road, and I'm so proud of the drive, heart and the way they fought back especially in the fourth set."

With the victory, the Mountain Hawks continue their impressive stretch to start the season with an 11-1 record, officially wrapping up non-league play for the year. Lehigh returns home next weekend to face Loyola on Friday and Navy on Saturday to open the Patriot League slate.

"This match against George Mason tonight was a great test for us going into league play," said Keckler. "We had a really great push tonight especially in the fourth set, and it gave us the confidence we need to go into league play strong."

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