Saturday, September 8
Philadelphia, Pa.
1:30 p.m.
Lehigh University
8-1
1
vs
3
Radford
8-1
1
2
3
4
F
Radford
25
25
25
25
3
Lehigh
19
27
19
20
1
Mountain Hawks fall to Radford, beat Penn for Saturday split
9/8/2018 8:20:00 PM | Volleyball
PHILADELPHIA — The Mountain Hawks had an opportunity to earn the best start to a season in program history with a win over Radford in the first match of two Saturday in the Valley Forge Sports Invitational at The Palestra, but came up just a bit short in fulfilling that goal.
The Highlanders got the best of Lehigh in the first set, snapping the Mountain Hawks' streak of 16 straight set wins. The second set was a lot more successful for Lehigh, pushing Radford as much as it could, going the extra mile and taking it 27-25 to even the score up at 1. The third set had the Mountain Hawks as close as tied at 19 before the Highlanders took over, went on a 6-0 run to win it 25-19.
With the end goal in sight for the Highlanders, they took control in the fourth set and never looked back, defeating Lehigh 25-20 for the Mountain Hawks' first loss of the 2018 season.
"I think the first match was tough to swallow. We were disconnected on offense and defense and took way too long to adjust to their offense," said head coach Alexa Keckler. "I told the team that we have a new team to focus on, learn from our mistakes, snap out of it, and keep moving."
Lehigh hit .145 as a team, allowing Radford to hit .240. Sophomore Sabrina Lancaster led Lehigh with 13 kills, but it was junior Lauren Bright who led the way on the attack with a .389 hitting percentage and finished with nine digs. Junior Julia Pressly hit .375 to come in second on the team.
After a tough loss to a really competitive team in Radford, improvements and adjustments had to be made heading into another tough matchup with host Penn in the nightcap.
"We changed our look offensively," said Keckler. "Our attacking game got back into a rhythm, and our offense spread a lot against Penn.
"We were not in it blocking against Radford and our team had 15 blocks in the second match. It was really awesome to see them take initiative against Penn."
Lehigh came out of the gate strong against Penn and only faltered once for the entire match. The Mountain Hawks won the first set 25-21 before dominating the second set 25-14. Up 19-13 on the Quakers, Lehigh used two Lauren Bright service aces and two Sabrina Lancaster kills to push the lead up to 23-13. Junior Emily Poole and Sabrina Lancaster added the set's final two kills to put an exclamation point on the set victory.
Penn controlled much of the third set in desperation to gain a set back on the Mountain Hawks. After trailing 17-12, Lehigh scratched and clawed and traded points with Penn to come as close as 24-22, following two Quaker attack errors, but Penn prevailed 25-22.
The Mountain Hawks had one of their best moments of the afternoon in the fourth set, using a 9-0 run to pull ahead from Penn drastically, leading 18-11 before the Quakers took a timeout. Lancaster's kill on freshman Alina Lam's set preceded a bad set from the Quakers that ended the threat and gave Lehigh a 25-19 win and the four-set victory to improve to 9-1 on the season.
For their performances from the weekend, Hannah Wright and Lauren Bright were named to the Valley Forge Sports Invitational All-Tournament team.
Wright had an enormous day for Lehigh, especially against Penn, where she hit .400 with 15 kills, five blocks, and three digs.
"She (Hannah) has stepped into a big role and took it head on. She put herself out there offensively and defensively," Keckler said. "Although she struggled against Radford, she played great against Saint Francis and Penn and is well deserving of the award."
Bright led the Mountain Hawks with a .500 hitting percentage against Saint Francis on Friday with eight kills. She went on to hit .389 against Radford with nine kills and nine digs.
After hitting sub-.200 as a team in the first match against Radford, Lehigh hit .336 against Penn, holding the Quakers to a .136 mark.
The Mountain Hawks head back home to Leeman-Turner Arena at Grace Hall on Tuesday to face the University of Maryland Eastern Shore at 6 p.m. The match will be streamed live on the Patriot League Network.
"We're really excited to get back in Grace Hall and play in front of the home fans again after being on the road for four straight matches," said Keckler. " I'm really proud of the team for their effort and finishing the week 3-1."
Like Lehigh Volleyball on Facebook, follow on Twitter and Instagram for continued updates on the Mountain Hawks.
The Highlanders got the best of Lehigh in the first set, snapping the Mountain Hawks' streak of 16 straight set wins. The second set was a lot more successful for Lehigh, pushing Radford as much as it could, going the extra mile and taking it 27-25 to even the score up at 1. The third set had the Mountain Hawks as close as tied at 19 before the Highlanders took over, went on a 6-0 run to win it 25-19.
With the end goal in sight for the Highlanders, they took control in the fourth set and never looked back, defeating Lehigh 25-20 for the Mountain Hawks' first loss of the 2018 season.
"I think the first match was tough to swallow. We were disconnected on offense and defense and took way too long to adjust to their offense," said head coach Alexa Keckler. "I told the team that we have a new team to focus on, learn from our mistakes, snap out of it, and keep moving."
Lehigh hit .145 as a team, allowing Radford to hit .240. Sophomore Sabrina Lancaster led Lehigh with 13 kills, but it was junior Lauren Bright who led the way on the attack with a .389 hitting percentage and finished with nine digs. Junior Julia Pressly hit .375 to come in second on the team.
After a tough loss to a really competitive team in Radford, improvements and adjustments had to be made heading into another tough matchup with host Penn in the nightcap.
"We changed our look offensively," said Keckler. "Our attacking game got back into a rhythm, and our offense spread a lot against Penn.
"We were not in it blocking against Radford and our team had 15 blocks in the second match. It was really awesome to see them take initiative against Penn."
Lehigh came out of the gate strong against Penn and only faltered once for the entire match. The Mountain Hawks won the first set 25-21 before dominating the second set 25-14. Up 19-13 on the Quakers, Lehigh used two Lauren Bright service aces and two Sabrina Lancaster kills to push the lead up to 23-13. Junior Emily Poole and Sabrina Lancaster added the set's final two kills to put an exclamation point on the set victory.
Penn controlled much of the third set in desperation to gain a set back on the Mountain Hawks. After trailing 17-12, Lehigh scratched and clawed and traded points with Penn to come as close as 24-22, following two Quaker attack errors, but Penn prevailed 25-22.
The Mountain Hawks had one of their best moments of the afternoon in the fourth set, using a 9-0 run to pull ahead from Penn drastically, leading 18-11 before the Quakers took a timeout. Lancaster's kill on freshman Alina Lam's set preceded a bad set from the Quakers that ended the threat and gave Lehigh a 25-19 win and the four-set victory to improve to 9-1 on the season.
For their performances from the weekend, Hannah Wright and Lauren Bright were named to the Valley Forge Sports Invitational All-Tournament team.
Wright had an enormous day for Lehigh, especially against Penn, where she hit .400 with 15 kills, five blocks, and three digs.
"She (Hannah) has stepped into a big role and took it head on. She put herself out there offensively and defensively," Keckler said. "Although she struggled against Radford, she played great against Saint Francis and Penn and is well deserving of the award."
Bright led the Mountain Hawks with a .500 hitting percentage against Saint Francis on Friday with eight kills. She went on to hit .389 against Radford with nine kills and nine digs.
After hitting sub-.200 as a team in the first match against Radford, Lehigh hit .336 against Penn, holding the Quakers to a .136 mark.
The Mountain Hawks head back home to Leeman-Turner Arena at Grace Hall on Tuesday to face the University of Maryland Eastern Shore at 6 p.m. The match will be streamed live on the Patriot League Network.
"We're really excited to get back in Grace Hall and play in front of the home fans again after being on the road for four straight matches," said Keckler. " I'm really proud of the team for their effort and finishing the week 3-1."
Like Lehigh Volleyball on Facebook, follow on Twitter and Instagram for continued updates on the Mountain Hawks.
Team Stats
RAD
LEHIGH
Kills
63
45
Errors
22
23
Attempts
171
152
Hitting %
.240
.145
Points
72.0
54.0
Assists
62
44
Aces
6
2
Blocks
3.0
7.0
Game Leaders
Kills
13
Aces
0
Blocks
2
Kills
10
Aces
2
Blocks
2
Kills
9
Aces
0
Blocks
3
Kills
9
Aces
0
Blocks
2
Players Mentioned
MB
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