Friday, October 1
Bethlehem, Pa.
7 p.m.
Lehigh University
4-11,1-4Patriot
1
vs
3
Loyola (Md.)
12-3,4-0Patriot
1
2
3
4
F
Loyola Maryland
25
25
22
25
3
Lehigh
16
23
25
22
1
Photo by: Alicia Zamudio
Momentum shifts throughout, but Lehigh drops four-set decision to Loyola
10/1/2021 10:11:00 PM | Volleyball
BETHLEHEM, Pa. – It was quite the fight Friday night at Grace Hall, as the Lehigh volleyball team battled in the middle sets, but fell to first place Loyola Maryland (12-3, 4-0 PL) in four sets (16-25, 23-25, 25-22, 22-25) on Dig Pink Night.
The Mountain Hawks (4-11, 1-4 PL) overcame adversity and took a momentous third set victory to stay alive and stave off elimination, but couldn't quite complete the comeback in the fourth set to force a deciding fifth.
"I think what went wrong tonight was that we struggled to side out," said head coach Alexa Keckler. "That was part passing, part attacking at moments. That made a big difference for us. I think we did battle tonight, we made the big choice to get out there and fight.
"We were just as good, if not better, so I think a lot of it came down to some blocking but overall, I think our inability to stay consistent with the serve and pass game and not being able to side out was a big difference in the match overall.
Sophomore outside hitter Lylah Washington matched a career-high 19 kills in the match, adding 12 digs to lead Lehigh, by far her best performance of the season so far.
"I definitely think Lylah was determined to go out there and play tough," Keckler said. "She listened to the gameplan, worked hard to see the block and swing around it and we need her on the court for multiple reasons and I certainly think she got more comfortable out there tonight and more confident in herself."
Despite keeping the first set somewhat close in the early goings, it was Loyola who took control with six straight points to take a 22-12 lead. The Mountain Hawks fought back to cut the deficit to eight points by Lauren Link got the Greyhounds to their second set point with a kill for the 25-16 victory.
Lehigh trailed by as many as seven points early in the second set but found the momentum shifting back in its favor by the end, cutting the deficit to as little as one point following a 4-0 push. The Greyhounds had second set point five separate times but an attack error by Washington gifted Loyola the 25-23 win.
It was all about give and take in the third set as the Mountain Hawks took an early 2-0, but was followed up by a 4-0 Loyola run. Trailing 6-5, Lehigh won four of the next five points to lead by two, 9-7 after back-to-back kills for Sabrina Lancaster.
Lehigh never had the lead for the fourth and final set of the match and down 10-8 early, Loyola took advantage and went on a 9-0 run to lead 19-8.
The Mountain Hawks got back into a rhythm and took advantage of Loyola's mistakes to claim seven of eight points to trail 20-15. Following two attack errors and a kill, Lehigh was within two points after trailing by as many as nine, but it was Cat Vaccaro who delivered on set point to give Loyola the win.
Washington led Lehigh with 19 kills, Lancaster had 13 and Schulte ended up finishing with nine. Sarah Burau paced the Mountain Hawks with a 25 assist, 13 dig double-double, while Ally Thaw had a team-best 19 digs. Emily Stewart was a force up at the net with six total blocks.
Lehigh hit .150 for the match, while the Greyhounds hit .144 with 30 errors. For Loyola, Abby Hamilton had 21 kills, Kacy Sekunda finished with 42 assists and Katie Forsythe registered a match-high 22 digs.
The Mountain Hawks conclude the weekend at 4 p.m. Saturday at Leeman Turner Arena at Grace Hall, taking on Navy.
"It's crazy but the key for us against Navy is going to have to be our serve and pass game," said Keckler. "When we serve and pass the ball well, we can get all of our hitters engaged. We were able to control the tempo, but when we were out of system, we weren't as efficient executing our offense in those situations. We're going to have to pass better tomorrow and try to avoid those big runs."
Like Lehigh Volleyball on Facebook, follow on Twitter and Instagram for continued updates on the Mountain Hawks.
The Mountain Hawks (4-11, 1-4 PL) overcame adversity and took a momentous third set victory to stay alive and stave off elimination, but couldn't quite complete the comeback in the fourth set to force a deciding fifth.
"I think what went wrong tonight was that we struggled to side out," said head coach Alexa Keckler. "That was part passing, part attacking at moments. That made a big difference for us. I think we did battle tonight, we made the big choice to get out there and fight.
"We were just as good, if not better, so I think a lot of it came down to some blocking but overall, I think our inability to stay consistent with the serve and pass game and not being able to side out was a big difference in the match overall.
Sophomore outside hitter Lylah Washington matched a career-high 19 kills in the match, adding 12 digs to lead Lehigh, by far her best performance of the season so far.
"I definitely think Lylah was determined to go out there and play tough," Keckler said. "She listened to the gameplan, worked hard to see the block and swing around it and we need her on the court for multiple reasons and I certainly think she got more comfortable out there tonight and more confident in herself."
Despite keeping the first set somewhat close in the early goings, it was Loyola who took control with six straight points to take a 22-12 lead. The Mountain Hawks fought back to cut the deficit to eight points by Lauren Link got the Greyhounds to their second set point with a kill for the 25-16 victory.
Lehigh trailed by as many as seven points early in the second set but found the momentum shifting back in its favor by the end, cutting the deficit to as little as one point following a 4-0 push. The Greyhounds had second set point five separate times but an attack error by Washington gifted Loyola the 25-23 win.
It was all about give and take in the third set as the Mountain Hawks took an early 2-0, but was followed up by a 4-0 Loyola run. Trailing 6-5, Lehigh won four of the next five points to lead by two, 9-7 after back-to-back kills for Sabrina Lancaster.
Lehigh and Loyola traded blows as the Mountain Hawks led by as many as five points. The Greyhounds brought the lead back down to two points at 24-22 but Megan Schulte kept Lehigh in the match with a kill for the third set..@Lylahwash was on 🔥 tonight 👀
— Lehigh Volleyball (@LehighVBall) October 2, 2021
Check out the highlights! 🎥#GoLehigh | #DoRight pic.twitter.com/pkfnzGSfBf
Lehigh never had the lead for the fourth and final set of the match and down 10-8 early, Loyola took advantage and went on a 9-0 run to lead 19-8.
The Mountain Hawks got back into a rhythm and took advantage of Loyola's mistakes to claim seven of eight points to trail 20-15. Following two attack errors and a kill, Lehigh was within two points after trailing by as many as nine, but it was Cat Vaccaro who delivered on set point to give Loyola the win.
Washington led Lehigh with 19 kills, Lancaster had 13 and Schulte ended up finishing with nine. Sarah Burau paced the Mountain Hawks with a 25 assist, 13 dig double-double, while Ally Thaw had a team-best 19 digs. Emily Stewart was a force up at the net with six total blocks.
Lehigh hit .150 for the match, while the Greyhounds hit .144 with 30 errors. For Loyola, Abby Hamilton had 21 kills, Kacy Sekunda finished with 42 assists and Katie Forsythe registered a match-high 22 digs.
The Mountain Hawks conclude the weekend at 4 p.m. Saturday at Leeman Turner Arena at Grace Hall, taking on Navy.
"It's crazy but the key for us against Navy is going to have to be our serve and pass game," said Keckler. "When we serve and pass the ball well, we can get all of our hitters engaged. We were able to control the tempo, but when we were out of system, we weren't as efficient executing our offense in those situations. We're going to have to pass better tomorrow and try to avoid those big runs."
Like Lehigh Volleyball on Facebook, follow on Twitter and Instagram for continued updates on the Mountain Hawks.
Team Stats
Loyola
Lehigh
Kills
55
48
Errors
30
24
Attempts
174
160
Hitting %
.144
.150
Points
70
59
Assists
49
46
Aces
7
4
Blocks
8
7
Game Leaders
Kills
19
Aces
0
Blocks
1
Kills
13
Aces
1
Blocks
1
Kills
9
Aces
2
Blocks
3
Kills
4
Aces
0
Blocks
6
Players Mentioned
S
/ VolleyballOH
/ VolleyballOH
/ VolleyballMB
/ Volleyball
OH
/ VolleyballVB vs. Loyola
Friday, October 10
Volleyball vs. American
Saturday, October 04
Mountain Hawk Talk - S2 EP2 - Volleyball
Friday, September 26
2025 Lehigh Volleyball Season Preview
Friday, August 29
