Lehigh extends win streak to eight with victory over Saint Francis

Friday, September 7

Philadelphia, Pa.

12 p.m.

Lehigh University

8-0

Saint Francis (Pa.)

0-9

Lehigh

Saint Francis (PA)

Lehigh extends win streak to eight with victory over Saint Francis

9/7/2018 4:09:00 PM | Volleyball

Box Score

PHILADELPHIA — There wasn't a whole lot that Lehigh volleyball did wrong on Friday afternoon as the Mountain Hawks defeated Saint Francis 3-0 for their eighth straight victory of the season in the opening match of the Valley Forge Sports Invitational. The Mountain Hawks' 8-0 record to start the year matches the program record set in 1979.

The first set saw Lehigh get out to an early lead before the Red Flash got as close as 12-10, before the Mountain Hawks took over for the second half of the set. After two straight points from Saint Francis, Hannah Wright delivered the final kill to give the Mountain Hawks the 25-20 first set victory.

The Mountain Hawks enjoyed a 9-0 run in the second set that put them up 17-10 before the Red Flash responded with a kill to momentarily stop the bleeding. Lehigh had five more points including kills from junior Emily Poole, Wright, and junior Lauren Bright to build upon its lead at 23-12. A Saint Francis service error gave Lehigh the second set win, 25-14.

"We were doing a really good job of seeing the middle, and we were passing really well. We were defensively reacting instead of attacking," said head coach Alexa Keckler. "Our serving game really picked up in the second set. Our defense definitely stepped it up. In the third set when we went down, we just toughed it out and got back in the groove."

The Red Flash took a 15-12 lead over the Mountain Hawks in the third set, but Lehigh responded back with six straight points of its own. With four straight points to close out the set, Lehigh left the Palestra victorious, winning 25-17 to claim its 16th straight set since dropping the third and fourth sets against Rutgers last Friday.

Statistically for Lehigh, Wright and sophomore Sabrina Lancaster led the way with 10 kills. Bright had eight kills on 14 attempts and finished with a hitting percentage of .500. Senior Emily Develle had 16 digs, while Poole had two blocks. Senior Megan Polak had 30 assists for the Mountain Hawks. Lehigh hit .194 as a team and held Saint Francis to a .009 hitting percentage.

"Improvements were definitely made since the last time we played," said Keckler. "Our defense was a little slow coming out but our players are making great strides and will continue to grow daily.

"I'm really proud of this group. They are continue to work hard and keep each other accountable. I really thought our bench and entire team has really jelled well as a unit. We haven't had a whole lot of adversity against our opponents so far, but the season will only get more challenging from here."

The Mountain Hawks continue play in the Valley Forge Sports Invitational at The Palestra tomorrow, with a 1 p.m. matchup with the currently 5-1 Radford Highlanders and the hosts, the 2-2 Penn Quakers at 5 p.m. Both matches should offer challenges and obstacles Lehigh hasn't encountered much of this season.

"Right now we're talking on the court. We need to go back to the basics when things aren't working," Keckler said. "We need to keep things relative and small. For right now, we need to have the mindset to win one set at a time, one match at a time, and one opponent at a time."

Lehigh's match vs. Penn will be streamed live at 5 p.m. on ESPN+.

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