Lehigh University Athletics
Sunday, November 17
Worcester, Mass.
1:00 PM
Lehigh University
14-16,7-9Patriot
3
at
1
Holy Cross
5-25,2-14Patriot
| Team | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Final F |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Lehigh | 25 | 25 | 19 | 25 | 3 |
| Holy Cross | 18 | 20 | 25 | 23 | 1 |
Mountain Hawks close regular season with 3-1 win over Holy Cross
11/17/2019 6:06:00 PM | Volleyball
WORCESTER, Mass. — After taking a pretty convincing 2-0 lead in the match, the Lehigh volleyball team held on for the 3-1 victory (25-18, 25-20, 19-25, 25-23) Sunday afternoon at Holy Cross, wrapping up the regular season and clinching the No. 5 seed in the upcoming Patriot League Tournament. The Mountain Hawks will play a quarterfinal round matchup on the road Tuesday evening at Navy.
The first set was a dream for Lehigh despite trailing early and having to come from behind. With an 18-16 deficit, the Mountain Hawks closed the set on a 9-0 run to take it 25-18. Lehigh hit .371 as a team in the first set with 15 kills and just two errors.
Lehigh opened up the second set on a 9-2 run to force the Crusaders to call a timeout. Holy Cross brought the score within one point, 17-16 before Lehigh called another timeout. The Mountain Hawks took four of the last five points to come away with a 25-20 victory.
The Crusaders got a set back with a 25-19 victory in the third to make it 2-1 Lehigh. The Mountain Hawks had the match tied up at 10, but Holy Cross hung on for the win.
With a 2-1 deficit, Holy Cross attempted to get even in the fourth, taking a 19-18 lead after a Katie Kerins kill, but Lehigh held on for the two-point advantage, a 25-23 set win after Hannah Wright got the final kill of the afternoon.
"I think ultimately, we did a good job on the serving end and our middles were pretty hot," said head coach Alexa Keckler. "We were able to feed them and get them going, which opened up a lot on the pins, so we haven't hit this high in a while, so it's nice to see a strong showing from an attack standpoint, but a lot of that was sparked by some stronger serving."
Two Mountain Hawks finished the afternoon with double-digit kills, as Hannah Wright led the team with 17 and Emily Poole added 12. Poole also had five total blocks and hit .400. Wright finished with eight digs and two service aces and a .295 attack percentage. Both Ava Hudson and Julia Pressly finished with eight kills, while Hudson had 10 digs and Pressly added 13.
"It been really awesome to see her [Wright] confidence grow," Keckler said. "She's been pretty solid to not get shaken this year and when things don't work, she continues to figure out some other options. I think she has started to really recognize what her strengths are and what opportunities are available to her in certain situations.
"She's just continuing to figure out how she can play to her potential and when things are on and when things are off, so ultimately it's really the experience, maturity and confidence piece that I'm super proud of her over the last couple months, just developing and applying it on the court. It's great to see, I'm so happy for her."
Sophomore setter Alina Lam's performance was strong, as she finished with 43 assists and 19 digs, both team-highs. For Lehigh players tallied double-digit digs with Lam (19), Pressly (13), senior libero Jess Donaldson (13) and Hudson (10).
"Alina has always been a strong defensive setter for us," said Keckler. "She came up with some big digs and I think as the season has gone on, she's become much more mature in her decision making. She's starting to see things from a much better perspective and she's really helped our attackers build more of a flow, especially today."
The Mountain Hawks ended up hitting .260 for the match, one of the best hitting performances of the season so far. Lehigh out-dug Holy Cross, 70-66, out-blocked them 8-7 and finished with eight service aces.
Lehigh finishes the regular season at 14-16 overall with a Patriot League record of 7-9. It will take on the fourth-seeded Midshipmen on Tuesday in Annapolis at 7 p.m. That match will be streamed live on the Patriot League Network.
"We talked a lot as a team about laying that foundation and gaining that momentum heading into the quarterfinals," said Keckler. "I think this win was a good confidence booster, I think it's a great opportunity for us to latch on to and take what we've learned this weekend into the match on Tuesday.
"I think the girls have embraced that, I think they're pretty excited to be headed to the next step."
Like Lehigh Volleyball on Facebook, follow on Twitter and Instagram for continued updates on the Mountain Hawks.
The first set was a dream for Lehigh despite trailing early and having to come from behind. With an 18-16 deficit, the Mountain Hawks closed the set on a 9-0 run to take it 25-18. Lehigh hit .371 as a team in the first set with 15 kills and just two errors.
Lehigh opened up the second set on a 9-2 run to force the Crusaders to call a timeout. Holy Cross brought the score within one point, 17-16 before Lehigh called another timeout. The Mountain Hawks took four of the last five points to come away with a 25-20 victory.
The Crusaders got a set back with a 25-19 victory in the third to make it 2-1 Lehigh. The Mountain Hawks had the match tied up at 10, but Holy Cross hung on for the win.
With a 2-1 deficit, Holy Cross attempted to get even in the fourth, taking a 19-18 lead after a Katie Kerins kill, but Lehigh held on for the two-point advantage, a 25-23 set win after Hannah Wright got the final kill of the afternoon.
"I think ultimately, we did a good job on the serving end and our middles were pretty hot," said head coach Alexa Keckler. "We were able to feed them and get them going, which opened up a lot on the pins, so we haven't hit this high in a while, so it's nice to see a strong showing from an attack standpoint, but a lot of that was sparked by some stronger serving."
Two Mountain Hawks finished the afternoon with double-digit kills, as Hannah Wright led the team with 17 and Emily Poole added 12. Poole also had five total blocks and hit .400. Wright finished with eight digs and two service aces and a .295 attack percentage. Both Ava Hudson and Julia Pressly finished with eight kills, while Hudson had 10 digs and Pressly added 13.
"It been really awesome to see her [Wright] confidence grow," Keckler said. "She's been pretty solid to not get shaken this year and when things don't work, she continues to figure out some other options. I think she has started to really recognize what her strengths are and what opportunities are available to her in certain situations.
"She's just continuing to figure out how she can play to her potential and when things are on and when things are off, so ultimately it's really the experience, maturity and confidence piece that I'm super proud of her over the last couple months, just developing and applying it on the court. It's great to see, I'm so happy for her."
Sophomore setter Alina Lam's performance was strong, as she finished with 43 assists and 19 digs, both team-highs. For Lehigh players tallied double-digit digs with Lam (19), Pressly (13), senior libero Jess Donaldson (13) and Hudson (10).
"Alina has always been a strong defensive setter for us," said Keckler. "She came up with some big digs and I think as the season has gone on, she's become much more mature in her decision making. She's starting to see things from a much better perspective and she's really helped our attackers build more of a flow, especially today."
The Mountain Hawks ended up hitting .260 for the match, one of the best hitting performances of the season so far. Lehigh out-dug Holy Cross, 70-66, out-blocked them 8-7 and finished with eight service aces.
Lehigh finishes the regular season at 14-16 overall with a Patriot League record of 7-9. It will take on the fourth-seeded Midshipmen on Tuesday in Annapolis at 7 p.m. That match will be streamed live on the Patriot League Network.
"We talked a lot as a team about laying that foundation and gaining that momentum heading into the quarterfinals," said Keckler. "I think this win was a good confidence booster, I think it's a great opportunity for us to latch on to and take what we've learned this weekend into the match on Tuesday.
"I think the girls have embraced that, I think they're pretty excited to be headed to the next step."
Like Lehigh Volleyball on Facebook, follow on Twitter and Instagram for continued updates on the Mountain Hawks.
Team Stats
LEHIGH
HC
Kills
56
50
Errors
18
21
Attempts
146
153
Hitting %
.260
.190
Points
72.0
60.0
Assists
54
43
Aces
8
3
Blocks
8.0
7.0
Game Leaders
Kills
17
Aces
2
Blocks
3
Kills
12
Aces
1
Blocks
5
Kills
8
Aces
0
Blocks
1
Kills
8
Aces
0
Blocks
1
Players Mentioned
L/DS
/ VolleyballOH
/ Volleyball
MB
/ VolleyballOH
/ VolleyballRS/OH
/ VolleyballVolleyball vs. Holy Cross
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