Lehigh University Athletics
Sunday, October 27
Bethlehem, Pa.
4:00 PM
Lehigh University
13-11, 6-4PL
3
vs
1
Lafayette
13-12, 2-7PL
1
2
3
4
F
Lafayette
25
22
24
15
1
Lehigh
23
25
26
25
3
Photo by: Justin Lafleur
Lehigh coasts to fourth straight victory, 3-1 over Lafayette Sunday
10/27/2019 8:00:00 PM | Volleyball
BETHLEHEM, Pa. — The Lehigh volleyball team played a little too close for comfort for most of the match, but put on a dominant performance in the fourth set to defeat Lafayette, 3-1 (23-25, 25-22, 26-24, 25-15) Sunday afternoon at Leeman-Turner Arena at Grace Hall. With the victory, Lehigh improves to 13-11 overall, 6-4 in the Patriot League and wins its fourth straight match. The Mountain Hawks have swept the season series against the Leopards, as the senior class finishes their careers 8-0 against Lafayette.
The first set started out with Lafayette going on a 5-1 run to open the match. It extended the lead to 11-5 before Lehigh took the first timeout of the match. Lafayette took five of the next six points to force the Mountain Hawks to burn their second timeout of the set, up 16-6. Trailing 19-11, the Mointain Hawks won seven of eight straight points to come within two points, down 20-18. A Lauren Bright kill, a Lafayette attack error and a Jess Donaldson service ace tied things up at 21. However, with the score tied at 23, Lafayette won back-to-back points to win the first set, 25-23.
Lehigh started the first set hitting .238 with 14 kills, but the Leopards answered back with a .275 attack percentage and 15 kills.
The second set fared better for Lehigh, with a tie at eight all right off the bat, but the Mountain Hawks won six straight points with Hannah Wright at the service line to take a 12-6 lead. The Leopards went on a 6-3 run to cut the Lehigh lead to just 15-12 into the media timeout. With a 20-19 lead, the Mountain Hawks took a breather after Lafayette won three consecutive points. With a 23-22 lead, Lehigh used dual attack errors to take a 25-22 set victory and even the score up at one.
Lehigh led going into the media timeout again, 15-12 this time in the third set, but allowed the Leopards to stay close, tying the match at 18 before Lehigh took another timeout. Lafayette surged ahead 22-21, before Lehigh won three of the next four points to go up 24-23. After the Leopards tied the score at 24m two more attack errors ended up being Lafayette's downfall as the Mountain Hawks took the 26-24 set win and a 2-1 lead in the match.
A set away from ending the weekend on a high note, it was the fourth set that showed just how dominant the Mountain Hawks can be when they work together and work with the game-plan.
Lehigh opened the fourth set on a 9-3 run, capped off with a kill by Hannah Wright and an unassisted kill by Emily Poole, causing the Leopards to call a timeout. After allowing Lafayette to claw back, now down 13-11, Lehigh won five straight points to take a commanding 18-11 lead. The Mountain Hawks, now trailing 20-15, finished out the set in decisive fashion, cruising to win five straight points and end the match on a service ace from Wright. Lehigh took the set, 25-15 and the match, 3-1 to spurn the Leopards once again.
"I thought we stayed composed today," said head coach Alexa Keckler. "I think that's the biggest thing. Throughout the match, we went in with a gameplan and some of it worked and some Lafayette was prepared for and adjusted. I thought our girls showed that we can do a great job of re-adjusting and going with the flow of the game.
"This is always such an emotional match and Lafayette played great. They're extremely scrappy and they go after everything and we had to find different ways to score once we did, it made for a much more successful feeling and the execution of our attacking."
Wright led the way with 16 kills and added five total blocks and three digs with two service errors. Poole was stellar, with eight kills and nine total blocks including two solo, hitting .438 for the match. Sabrina Lancaster added nine kills and 12 digs, while Lauren Bright also managed eight kills to go along with six total blocks. Both setters Alina Lam and Sarah Carman were incredibly efficient as Lam finished with 25 assists and six digs, Carman added 17 assists and 11 digs.
The star of the match was senior libero Jess Donaldson, who wowed for the second consecutive afternoon, posting a new career-high 26 digs with six assists and a kill.
"Jess is just continuing to impress me every match that she steps onto the court," said Keckler. "Her comfortability as a libero, her leadership, her control and now that she's become more confident, she's just done an amazing job of being able to direct traffic and lead our team to some quality changes during the play and I'm just really proud of her, but I'm also just really happy for her, because she's worked really hard for this."
Lehigh hit .230 as a team with a team-high .238 in the first set. The Mountain Hawks finished with 54 kills and 70 digs, but out-blocked Lafayette 15-5 for the match.
As aforementioned, this is eighth straight victory for the senior class against Lafayette, going undefeated in their four years on the court, which is an incredible accomplishment.
"I'm really happy for them for that, that's awesome," Keckler said. "It's such a heated rivalry and the talent level is great for both teams.
"So I'm really excited that they got to experience that and they wanted it. This was something that was a goal of theirs. To go through all four years and say that they've beaten Lafayette. I'm happy for them for that and for the team in general, that's a great accomplishment."
The Mountain Hawks now have just six league matches remaining on the schedule, three of which are home for Lehigh, and wins over Bucknell and Lafayette to cap off the weekend only help the team progress as the hunt for the Patriot League Tournament continues to heat up.
"This was a big win for us, every match moving forward is going to be a big win," said Keckler. "So, whether it's three, four or five sets, we're getting the win at this point, I think it's another confidence booster, another opportunity for us to build upon going into the next match.
The Mountain Hawks stay home next weekend to finish off the five-match homestand with a battle against Navy Friday night at 7 p.m. and a match against American Saturday at 3 p.m. for Senior Day. Only Friday's matchup with the Midshipmen will be streamed live on the Patriot League Network.
Like Lehigh Volleyball on Facebook, follow on Twitter and Instagram for continued updates on the Mountain Hawks.
Gallery: (10/27/2019) Volleyball vs. Lafayette, 10/27/19
The first set started out with Lafayette going on a 5-1 run to open the match. It extended the lead to 11-5 before Lehigh took the first timeout of the match. Lafayette took five of the next six points to force the Mountain Hawks to burn their second timeout of the set, up 16-6. Trailing 19-11, the Mointain Hawks won seven of eight straight points to come within two points, down 20-18. A Lauren Bright kill, a Lafayette attack error and a Jess Donaldson service ace tied things up at 21. However, with the score tied at 23, Lafayette won back-to-back points to win the first set, 25-23.
Lehigh started the first set hitting .238 with 14 kills, but the Leopards answered back with a .275 attack percentage and 15 kills.
The second set fared better for Lehigh, with a tie at eight all right off the bat, but the Mountain Hawks won six straight points with Hannah Wright at the service line to take a 12-6 lead. The Leopards went on a 6-3 run to cut the Lehigh lead to just 15-12 into the media timeout. With a 20-19 lead, the Mountain Hawks took a breather after Lafayette won three consecutive points. With a 23-22 lead, Lehigh used dual attack errors to take a 25-22 set victory and even the score up at one.
Lehigh led going into the media timeout again, 15-12 this time in the third set, but allowed the Leopards to stay close, tying the match at 18 before Lehigh took another timeout. Lafayette surged ahead 22-21, before Lehigh won three of the next four points to go up 24-23. After the Leopards tied the score at 24m two more attack errors ended up being Lafayette's downfall as the Mountain Hawks took the 26-24 set win and a 2-1 lead in the match.
A set away from ending the weekend on a high note, it was the fourth set that showed just how dominant the Mountain Hawks can be when they work together and work with the game-plan.
Lehigh opened the fourth set on a 9-3 run, capped off with a kill by Hannah Wright and an unassisted kill by Emily Poole, causing the Leopards to call a timeout. After allowing Lafayette to claw back, now down 13-11, Lehigh won five straight points to take a commanding 18-11 lead. The Mountain Hawks, now trailing 20-15, finished out the set in decisive fashion, cruising to win five straight points and end the match on a service ace from Wright. Lehigh took the set, 25-15 and the match, 3-1 to spurn the Leopards once again.
"I thought we stayed composed today," said head coach Alexa Keckler. "I think that's the biggest thing. Throughout the match, we went in with a gameplan and some of it worked and some Lafayette was prepared for and adjusted. I thought our girls showed that we can do a great job of re-adjusting and going with the flow of the game.
"This is always such an emotional match and Lafayette played great. They're extremely scrappy and they go after everything and we had to find different ways to score once we did, it made for a much more successful feeling and the execution of our attacking."
Wright led the way with 16 kills and added five total blocks and three digs with two service errors. Poole was stellar, with eight kills and nine total blocks including two solo, hitting .438 for the match. Sabrina Lancaster added nine kills and 12 digs, while Lauren Bright also managed eight kills to go along with six total blocks. Both setters Alina Lam and Sarah Carman were incredibly efficient as Lam finished with 25 assists and six digs, Carman added 17 assists and 11 digs.
The star of the match was senior libero Jess Donaldson, who wowed for the second consecutive afternoon, posting a new career-high 26 digs with six assists and a kill.
"Jess is just continuing to impress me every match that she steps onto the court," said Keckler. "Her comfortability as a libero, her leadership, her control and now that she's become more confident, she's just done an amazing job of being able to direct traffic and lead our team to some quality changes during the play and I'm just really proud of her, but I'm also just really happy for her, because she's worked really hard for this."
Lehigh hit .230 as a team with a team-high .238 in the first set. The Mountain Hawks finished with 54 kills and 70 digs, but out-blocked Lafayette 15-5 for the match.
As aforementioned, this is eighth straight victory for the senior class against Lafayette, going undefeated in their four years on the court, which is an incredible accomplishment.
"I'm really happy for them for that, that's awesome," Keckler said. "It's such a heated rivalry and the talent level is great for both teams.
"So I'm really excited that they got to experience that and they wanted it. This was something that was a goal of theirs. To go through all four years and say that they've beaten Lafayette. I'm happy for them for that and for the team in general, that's a great accomplishment."
The Mountain Hawks now have just six league matches remaining on the schedule, three of which are home for Lehigh, and wins over Bucknell and Lafayette to cap off the weekend only help the team progress as the hunt for the Patriot League Tournament continues to heat up.
"This was a big win for us, every match moving forward is going to be a big win," said Keckler. "So, whether it's three, four or five sets, we're getting the win at this point, I think it's another confidence booster, another opportunity for us to build upon going into the next match.
The Mountain Hawks stay home next weekend to finish off the five-match homestand with a battle against Navy Friday night at 7 p.m. and a match against American Saturday at 3 p.m. for Senior Day. Only Friday's matchup with the Midshipmen will be streamed live on the Patriot League Network.
Like Lehigh Volleyball on Facebook, follow on Twitter and Instagram for continued updates on the Mountain Hawks.
Team Stats
LAFAYETT
LEHIGH
Kills
54
52
Errors
31
18
Attempts
164
148
Hitting %
.140
.230
Points
62.0
73.0
Assists
53
50
Aces
3
6
Blocks
5.0
15.0
Game Leaders
Kills
16
Aces
2
Blocks
4
Kills
9
Aces
2
Blocks
2
Kills
8
Aces
0
Blocks
6
Kills
8
Aces
0
Blocks
9
Players Mentioned
MB
/ Volleyball
S
/ Volleyball
L/DS
/ Volleyball
OH
/ VolleyballMB
/ VolleyballRS/OH
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