Lehigh University Athletics
Friday, September 13
Philadelphia, Pa.
4:00 PM
Lehigh University
vs
Columbia
Photo by: Justin Lafleur
Mountain Hawks set for Cherry & White Challenge in Philly this weekend
9/12/2019 5:49:00 PM | Volleyball
BETHLEHEM, Pa. — Lehigh volleyball enters a weekend full of competition on a five-match winning streak, ending the non-league season at home, 5-0. This weekend, the Mountain Hawks head to Philly for the Hilton Philadelphia at Penn's Landing Cherry and White Challenge, hosted by Temple. Lehigh takes on Columbia on Friday night, Radford on Saturday afternoon and the Owls Saturday evening.
Lehigh is coming off a tough home win against NJIT Tuesday where the Mountain Hawks came from behind to take three straight sets from the Highlanders and earn their fifth victory of the 2019 season. Senior Julia Pressly registered 16 kills, senior Emily Poole added 13 kills and junior Hannah Wright finished with 11 kills to pace the Mountain Hawks. Junior libero Allison Garrett had 19 digs to lead Lehigh, while sophomore Sarah Carman had a career-high 50 assists.
Through the team's first eight matches to start the year, it's senior Lauren Bright that has had the hot hand from the field, hitting .489 with 51 kills. Wright leads all Lehigh players with 75 kills in 28 sets played. Poole is the team's leader in total blocks with 26 so far.
Lehigh's first opponent of the weekend is Columbia, who is 2-1 after the team's first weekend of competition. The Lions are coming off victories over Howard and Canisius and a three-set loss to St. John's last Friday. Chichi Ikwuazom is the team's leader in attack percentage with a .440 mark and 61 kills in just 11 sets. Kiara Robichaud has 27 kills for Columbia in her 11 sets through three matches. Audrey Chang leads the way with 84 assists, while Kalie Wood has 42 digs and Soah Franklin has eight blocks. Columbia is hitting .221 as a team with 13.1 kills per set. Lehigh and Columbia are tied in the all-time series between the two programs, 4-4. The Lions were victorious the last time out, 3-2 on Sept. 19, 2009, 10 years ago.
Lehigh's first opponent on Saturday is Radford, who gave the Mountain Hawks fits last year at The Palestra for a tournament hosted by Penn. The Highlanders gave Lehigh its first loss of the 2018 season after starting the year 7-0. This year, Radford has started the year off 3-3 with victories over UTRGV, Bethune-Cookman and Fordham. Mallory McKnight leads the Highlanders overall with a .318 hitting percentage and has 46 kills, good for second on the team. The kills leader for Radford is Stephanie Neast with 64. Neast is also averaging 2.91 kills per set. Jordan Coomes leads the team with 126 assists, while both Taylor O'Neal and Grace Green lead the team defensively with 69 digs each. Mackenzie Meehan and McKnight lead the Highlanders with 25 and 24 blocks, respectively. Lehigh is 1-2 all-time against Radford, losing the last matchup, 3-1 back on Sept. 8, 2018.
Finally, Lehigh will take on host Temple on Saturday night to conclude the tournament. The Owls have been superb through the season's first two weeks with an undefeated 6-0 record. Temple is coming off a perfect weekend at Patriot League power American, in which the Owls defeated the Eagles in straight sets on Saturday. Temple is hitting .270 as a team with 257 kills. 82 of those kills belong to Gem Grimshaw, who also is hitting .304 averaging 4.10 kills per set. Kayla Spells is hitting .417 with 28 kills, while Tyler Lindgren has hit .345 in 20 sets. She also leads the team with 184 assists. Averi Salvador has 110 digs through the first six matches, while Spells has 24 blocks. All-time, Lehigh is 2-14 against Temple, last facing them in 2011. Lehigh defeated the Owls on Sept. 9, 2011 in four sets during all-time winningest coach in program history Bob Bertucci's first season at Lehigh.
Lehigh's match with Temple on Saturday night at 7 p.m. will be streamed live on OwlSports.com.
Like Lehigh Volleyball on Facebook, follow on Twitter and Instagram for continued updates on the Mountain Hawks.
Lehigh is coming off a tough home win against NJIT Tuesday where the Mountain Hawks came from behind to take three straight sets from the Highlanders and earn their fifth victory of the 2019 season. Senior Julia Pressly registered 16 kills, senior Emily Poole added 13 kills and junior Hannah Wright finished with 11 kills to pace the Mountain Hawks. Junior libero Allison Garrett had 19 digs to lead Lehigh, while sophomore Sarah Carman had a career-high 50 assists.
Through the team's first eight matches to start the year, it's senior Lauren Bright that has had the hot hand from the field, hitting .489 with 51 kills. Wright leads all Lehigh players with 75 kills in 28 sets played. Poole is the team's leader in total blocks with 26 so far.
Lehigh's first opponent of the weekend is Columbia, who is 2-1 after the team's first weekend of competition. The Lions are coming off victories over Howard and Canisius and a three-set loss to St. John's last Friday. Chichi Ikwuazom is the team's leader in attack percentage with a .440 mark and 61 kills in just 11 sets. Kiara Robichaud has 27 kills for Columbia in her 11 sets through three matches. Audrey Chang leads the way with 84 assists, while Kalie Wood has 42 digs and Soah Franklin has eight blocks. Columbia is hitting .221 as a team with 13.1 kills per set. Lehigh and Columbia are tied in the all-time series between the two programs, 4-4. The Lions were victorious the last time out, 3-2 on Sept. 19, 2009, 10 years ago.
Lehigh's first opponent on Saturday is Radford, who gave the Mountain Hawks fits last year at The Palestra for a tournament hosted by Penn. The Highlanders gave Lehigh its first loss of the 2018 season after starting the year 7-0. This year, Radford has started the year off 3-3 with victories over UTRGV, Bethune-Cookman and Fordham. Mallory McKnight leads the Highlanders overall with a .318 hitting percentage and has 46 kills, good for second on the team. The kills leader for Radford is Stephanie Neast with 64. Neast is also averaging 2.91 kills per set. Jordan Coomes leads the team with 126 assists, while both Taylor O'Neal and Grace Green lead the team defensively with 69 digs each. Mackenzie Meehan and McKnight lead the Highlanders with 25 and 24 blocks, respectively. Lehigh is 1-2 all-time against Radford, losing the last matchup, 3-1 back on Sept. 8, 2018.
Finally, Lehigh will take on host Temple on Saturday night to conclude the tournament. The Owls have been superb through the season's first two weeks with an undefeated 6-0 record. Temple is coming off a perfect weekend at Patriot League power American, in which the Owls defeated the Eagles in straight sets on Saturday. Temple is hitting .270 as a team with 257 kills. 82 of those kills belong to Gem Grimshaw, who also is hitting .304 averaging 4.10 kills per set. Kayla Spells is hitting .417 with 28 kills, while Tyler Lindgren has hit .345 in 20 sets. She also leads the team with 184 assists. Averi Salvador has 110 digs through the first six matches, while Spells has 24 blocks. All-time, Lehigh is 2-14 against Temple, last facing them in 2011. Lehigh defeated the Owls on Sept. 9, 2011 in four sets during all-time winningest coach in program history Bob Bertucci's first season at Lehigh.
Lehigh's match with Temple on Saturday night at 7 p.m. will be streamed live on OwlSports.com.
Like Lehigh Volleyball on Facebook, follow on Twitter and Instagram for continued updates on the Mountain Hawks.
Players Mentioned
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