Lehigh escapes nailbiter, improves to 12-1 with win over Loyola

Friday, September 21

Bethlehem, Pa.

7 p.m.

Lehigh University

12-1, 1-0PL

Loyola (Md.)

4-9, 0-1PL

Loyola

Lehigh

Lehigh escapes nailbiter, improves to 12-1 with win over Loyola

9/21/2018 10:53:00 PM | Volleyball

Box Score

BETHLEHEM, Pa. — Lehigh had a chance to come away with a three-set sweep over Loyola on Friday night at Leeman-Turner Arena, but the Greyhounds had other plans.

Loyola, down 2-0 heading into the third set, fought back and took the third set 25-22 and used a 10-0 run in the fourth set to take it before the Mountain Hawks bounced back in the fifth, 15-13 to escape with their first Patriot League win of the season.

"Clearly volleyball is a game of momentum," said head coach Alexa Keckler after the win. "There's lots of shifts, lots of adjustments. I think there was a lot of anxiety and build up coming into the match, especially coming into the first league game; it was a great win for us, Loyola came prepared and they never gave up and they fought tooth-and-nail."

Hitting wise, it was another up-and-down outing for the Mountain Hawks despite taking an early two-set advantage. Lehigh managed to hit .226 as a team in the first, followed by .207 in the second, .156 in the third and .118 in the fourth, before coming through in the deciding set, hitting .269 to close the door.

Sophomore Sabrina Lancaster led Lehigh with 16 kills, adding six digs. Sophomore Hannah Wright finished with 12 kills of her own, junior Emily Poole had nine, while juniors Lauren Bright and Julia Pressly each notched seven in truly a full offensive effort from the entire team.

Even the bench contributed mightily to the Mountain Hawks' win, with senior Victoria Hemsath tallying five kills and two digs, while freshman setter Alina Lam had 14 assists and nine digs.

"I definitely feel like we have a good amount of depth in our bench," said Keckler. "So I think it was really awesome to see those girls go in, come out, and help each other out. They definitely worked together tonight and supported one another to help us get that win."

(9/21/2018) Volleyball vs. Loyola, 9/21/18

Loyola had exceptional performances out of Abby Hamilton, who finished with 20 kills and 10 digs, while Ann Ernst tallied 19 kills. Molly Werts and Alex Fisher both had 26 assists. Libero Katie Forsythe finished with 18 digs.

So how will the Mountain Hawks take what they learned from Loyola on Friday into the 4 p.m. matchup with Navy on Saturday?

"I think a lot of what we did tonight comes back to our mental toughness and being able to adjust to the gameplan," Keckler said. "We did a great job executing, but we need to make our adjustments faster."

The Mountain Hawks win over Loyola may have been a lot harder than they would have liked, but a win is a win, especially in Keckler's first career Patriot League victory as Lehigh head coach.

"It feels great," said Keckler. "But I'm more excited that they were able to battle that out. That could've been anyone's match. I'm really proud of their hard work and I'm really proud of the way that we fought through and finished it out."

Lehigh's 4 p.m. home match against Navy on Saturday will be streamed live on the Patriot League Network.

Prior to Saturday's match with Navy, Lehigh will recognize members of the 1993 Patriot League Championship volleyball team with a special pregame ceremony. Members of the team that will be in attendance to be recognized are Sue Snyder Chambers, Nicole Miller Hackenberg, Adi Lang, Colleen Makosky Broome, Kelly Kramer, and graduate assistant Donna Gaugler Roman.

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