Friday, September 6
Bethlehem, Pa.
4:00 PM
Lehigh University
1-3
3
vs
1
Penn
1-1
1
2
3
4
F
Penn
15
14
31
23
1
Lehigh
25
25
29
25
3
Photo by: Brent Hugo
Lehigh opens Crosstown Invitational with back-to-back wins over Penn and The Shore
9/6/2019 10:45:00 PM | Volleyball
BETHLEHEM, Pa. — For the second consecutive year, the Lehigh volleyball team got out of the first day of the Crosstown Invitational with two match victories, a win over Penn (25-15, 25-14, 29-31, 25-23) in the first match and a victory over Maryland Eastern Shore (22-25, 25-19, 25-15, 25-19). The wins push Lehigh's record to 2-3 to open the 2019 season.
Lehigh started the first set off trailing early, but back-to-back kills from Hannah Wright and Sabrina Lancaster got the Mountain Hawks back in it, 3-2. Four straight points had Lehigh up 9-4, before the Quakers took a timeout. Up 12-8, the Mountain Hawks used a 4-1 run to take a 15-9 lead after an Autumn Leak attack error. Lehigh took six of eight points to take a 18-11 lead before another Quaker timeout. A combination of Julia Pressly, Wright and Lancaster ended up being the deciding factor in the first, as the Mountain Hawks claimed it, 25-15.
Lehigh started the second set with a 5-1 run thanks to Lancaster and Lauren Bright, including a lethal blocking combination of Wright and Bright. The Mountain Hawks pulled off four straight points to go up 11-5, before another four straight to go up 19-10. Up 24-12 following a Wright kill from Sarah Carman and then a service ace from Jepson and then Lancaster with a kill form Carman. A Margaret Planek service error gave Lehigh the 25-14 set victory and the 2-0 opening match lead.
The third set was as insane as could be, as it seemed never-ending especially towards the very end. Penn started it off with a 7-2 advantage before head coach Alexa Keckler took a timeout. The Mountain Hawks took four of six points, trailing 9-6. Six straight points came to the Mountain Hawks as kills from Lancaster, a couple of attack errors and a bad set for Penn, followed by a Pressly kill pushed Lehigh up, 12-11.
With a 24-23 lead and a possible set point, the Mountain Hawks got a key kill from Wright to tie the set at 24 out of the timeout. Lancaster's kill put Lehigh up 25-24. The momentum shifted back to Penn to take a 26-25 lead before the Mountain Hawks took three of the next four points to lead 28-27 and take another match point. The Quakers took four of the last five points to claim a 31-29 set victory over Lehigh.
It was back-and-forth to start the fourth set before Penn took a 12-7 lead, causing Keckler to use a timeout. Trailing 18-15, Lehigh stayed on course, claiming four straight points to take an 18-17 lead after a Lauren Bright kill, a Carman service ace and a Penn ball handling error. After a Penn attack error and a Lancaster ace, the Mountain Hawks took a 20-19 lead. Penn scored two points to take another lead before Lehigh took four of the next five points to take a 24-22 lead and get another match point. Emily Poole's kill from Sarah Carman ended the match and gave Lehigh its first victory of the 2019 season.
Lancaster led the way with 15 kills and 12 digs, while hitting .293 from the floor. She also had two solo blocks to her credit. Wright notched 11 kills, while Pressly had 10 kills to go along with 13 digs. Bright had six kills, five block assists and a .385 hitting percentage while Poole hit .308 with four kills and three total blocks. Carman finished with 38 assists and 14 digs for her first career double-double, while libero Allison Garrett had 11 digs.
Lehigh hit .218 as a team for the match, including a very efficient .455 in the second set.
"I think ultimately, we came out of the gate pretty strong, we had a good offensive flow and then we went into the break and came back out pretty flat," said Keckler. "It was hard-fought, but we definitely saw some things we wanted to work on throughout the week, making adjustments. But coming back in that fourth set and battling back was pretty good."
It was a slow start for the Mountain Hawks in the first set of the match against Maryland Eastern Shore, as they fell, 25-22. Lehigh took control of the second set, however, with three of the first four points to take a 3-1 lead. The Mountain Hawks fought back with three straight before a timeout from The Shore to go up, 8-6. It was a back-and-forth affair before four straight points from kills by Lancaster and Pressly along with a pair of attack errors from the Hawks to lead 13-12. Up 17-16, the Mountain Hawks rattled off six straight points to take a 22-16 lead. Wright's kill from Lancaster gave Lehigh the set victory. The fourth set was much of the same for the Mountain Hawks, dominating it and taking a 25-15 win. Lehigh continued to grow substantially attacking the ball, hitting .387 in the third. A .485 fourth set for the Mountain Hawks and a 25-19 victory gave Lehigh a 3-1 win over Maryland Eastern Shore.
Wright tied her career-high of 20 kills in the win, while hitting .368 with six digs and five block assists. Bright had 11 kills with two digs, four block assists and a solo block while hitting a game-high .786 attack percentage. Poole hit .533 with eight kills, three block assists and one solo block. Libero Ali Garrett had 18 digs, while Sarah Carman registered a career-best 43 assists.
"I think the great thing about both Sabrina and Hannah is that they pick each other up," Keckler said. "Hannah was finding her groove, she was swinging at both pins and as she gets even more comfortable, she can become pretty detrimental for the opposition."
Lehigh returns to action on Saturday afternoon to take on Delaware State at noon and Manhattan at 3:30 p.m. to conclude the Crosstown Invitational. Both matches will be streamed live on the Patriot League Network.
Gallery: (9/6/2019) Volleyball vs. Penn 9-6-2019
Lehigh started the first set off trailing early, but back-to-back kills from Hannah Wright and Sabrina Lancaster got the Mountain Hawks back in it, 3-2. Four straight points had Lehigh up 9-4, before the Quakers took a timeout. Up 12-8, the Mountain Hawks used a 4-1 run to take a 15-9 lead after an Autumn Leak attack error. Lehigh took six of eight points to take a 18-11 lead before another Quaker timeout. A combination of Julia Pressly, Wright and Lancaster ended up being the deciding factor in the first, as the Mountain Hawks claimed it, 25-15.
Lehigh started the second set with a 5-1 run thanks to Lancaster and Lauren Bright, including a lethal blocking combination of Wright and Bright. The Mountain Hawks pulled off four straight points to go up 11-5, before another four straight to go up 19-10. Up 24-12 following a Wright kill from Sarah Carman and then a service ace from Jepson and then Lancaster with a kill form Carman. A Margaret Planek service error gave Lehigh the 25-14 set victory and the 2-0 opening match lead.
The third set was as insane as could be, as it seemed never-ending especially towards the very end. Penn started it off with a 7-2 advantage before head coach Alexa Keckler took a timeout. The Mountain Hawks took four of six points, trailing 9-6. Six straight points came to the Mountain Hawks as kills from Lancaster, a couple of attack errors and a bad set for Penn, followed by a Pressly kill pushed Lehigh up, 12-11.
With a 24-23 lead and a possible set point, the Mountain Hawks got a key kill from Wright to tie the set at 24 out of the timeout. Lancaster's kill put Lehigh up 25-24. The momentum shifted back to Penn to take a 26-25 lead before the Mountain Hawks took three of the next four points to lead 28-27 and take another match point. The Quakers took four of the last five points to claim a 31-29 set victory over Lehigh.
It was back-and-forth to start the fourth set before Penn took a 12-7 lead, causing Keckler to use a timeout. Trailing 18-15, Lehigh stayed on course, claiming four straight points to take an 18-17 lead after a Lauren Bright kill, a Carman service ace and a Penn ball handling error. After a Penn attack error and a Lancaster ace, the Mountain Hawks took a 20-19 lead. Penn scored two points to take another lead before Lehigh took four of the next five points to take a 24-22 lead and get another match point. Emily Poole's kill from Sarah Carman ended the match and gave Lehigh its first victory of the 2019 season.
Lancaster led the way with 15 kills and 12 digs, while hitting .293 from the floor. She also had two solo blocks to her credit. Wright notched 11 kills, while Pressly had 10 kills to go along with 13 digs. Bright had six kills, five block assists and a .385 hitting percentage while Poole hit .308 with four kills and three total blocks. Carman finished with 38 assists and 14 digs for her first career double-double, while libero Allison Garrett had 11 digs.
Lehigh hit .218 as a team for the match, including a very efficient .455 in the second set.
"I think ultimately, we came out of the gate pretty strong, we had a good offensive flow and then we went into the break and came back out pretty flat," said Keckler. "It was hard-fought, but we definitely saw some things we wanted to work on throughout the week, making adjustments. But coming back in that fourth set and battling back was pretty good."
It was a slow start for the Mountain Hawks in the first set of the match against Maryland Eastern Shore, as they fell, 25-22. Lehigh took control of the second set, however, with three of the first four points to take a 3-1 lead. The Mountain Hawks fought back with three straight before a timeout from The Shore to go up, 8-6. It was a back-and-forth affair before four straight points from kills by Lancaster and Pressly along with a pair of attack errors from the Hawks to lead 13-12. Up 17-16, the Mountain Hawks rattled off six straight points to take a 22-16 lead. Wright's kill from Lancaster gave Lehigh the set victory. The fourth set was much of the same for the Mountain Hawks, dominating it and taking a 25-15 win. Lehigh continued to grow substantially attacking the ball, hitting .387 in the third. A .485 fourth set for the Mountain Hawks and a 25-19 victory gave Lehigh a 3-1 win over Maryland Eastern Shore.
Wright tied her career-high of 20 kills in the win, while hitting .368 with six digs and five block assists. Bright had 11 kills with two digs, four block assists and a solo block while hitting a game-high .786 attack percentage. Poole hit .533 with eight kills, three block assists and one solo block. Libero Ali Garrett had 18 digs, while Sarah Carman registered a career-best 43 assists.
"I think the great thing about both Sabrina and Hannah is that they pick each other up," Keckler said. "Hannah was finding her groove, she was swinging at both pins and as she gets even more comfortable, she can become pretty detrimental for the opposition."
Lehigh returns to action on Saturday afternoon to take on Delaware State at noon and Manhattan at 3:30 p.m. to conclude the Crosstown Invitational. Both matches will be streamed live on the Patriot League Network.
Team Stats
PENN
LEHIGH
Kills
48
46
Errors
31
17
Attempts
154
133
Hitting %
.110
.218
Points
55.0
68.0
Assists
44
43
Aces
5
10
Blocks
2.0
12.0
Game Leaders
Kills
15
Aces
2
Blocks
2
Kills
11
Aces
3
Blocks
3
Kills
10
Aces
0
Blocks
5
Kills
6
Aces
0
Blocks
5
Players Mentioned
MB
/ Volleyball
S
/ Volleyball
L/DS
/ VolleyballOH
/ Volleyball
MB
/ VolleyballOH
/ VolleyballRS/OH
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