Saturday, October 2
Bethlehem, Pa.
4 p.m.
Lehigh University
5-11,2-4Patriot
3
vs
2
Navy
6-8,2-3Patriot
1
2
3
4
5
F
Navy
24
15
25
25
11
2
Lehigh
26
25
17
22
15
3
Photo by: Justin Lafleur
Mountain Hawks prevail vs. Navy, first win over Mids in four years
10/2/2021 11:33:00 PM | Volleyball
BETHLEHEM, Pa. – The Lehigh volleyball team earned a signature victory on Saturday afternoon, downing Navy in five sets (26-24, 25-15, 17-25, 22-25, 15-11) at Leeman Turner Arena at Grace Hall. The Mountain Hawks (5-11, 2-4 PL) pick up their first win over the Midshipmen (6-8, 2-3 PL) since 2017, snapping a five-match losing streak. The win is also head coach Alexa Keckler's first against the team.
Three Mountain Hawks filled the stat sheet in kills as freshman Megan Schulte finished with kills, Lylah Washington had 12 and Sabrina Lancaster 11.
"I'm honestly just so super proud of the girls, I wanted this so badly for them," said head coach Alexa Keckler following the victory. "They've been working so hard. We've been fighting every single match this season but just haven't been able to come out on top. We had so many contributors, so many players that came in and did their jobs. It was a really well-rounded performance for everyone.
"It obviously feels great to get the win, but it was a battle our girls earned and they worked extremely hard for it."
Navy opened the first set on a 12-6 run after the Maggie Bodman kill and service ace for Avery Stowell. Lehigh was able to tie the set at 15-15 before the Mids got two straight to lead 17-15. Trailing 19-17, the Mountain Hawks won six of the next seven points to take a 22-20 advantage. An Emily Stewart kill put Lehigh in the driver's seat up 24-22, but Navy forced extra time on back-to-back kills at 24-24. An attack error for Navy and a kill for Stewart gave Lehigh the 26-24 win.
The only lead for Navy in the second set occurred at 6-5, as the Mountain Hawks took advantage of three unforced errors from the opposition to lead 9-6. Lehigh turned a one-point lead at 10-9 into an eight-point advantage at 21-13 following a kill each for Schulte and Lancaster. Lehigh won the final four points to take a 25-15 set 2 win and a commanding 2-0 lead in the match.
The Mids opened the third set on a 10-5 run before kills from Washington and Schulte brought the deficit back to four points. Navy took a 17-9 lead, but the Mountain Hawks rallied for five straight on three straight attack errors, trailing 17-14. The Midshipmen closed the set on an 8-2 run to win, 25-17.
Looking to get back the momentum after dropping a third set to their opponents, the Mountain Hawks led by as many as three at 10-7 early. Navy extended its lead to four points before Lehigh won four straight to tie it at 21-21. The Mids won four of the last five tallies to force the deciding fifth set with a 25-22 set 4 win.
The fifth set was neck and neck for most of the stanza, before Lehigh broke free to lead by three points at 12-9. Navy cut the gap to just one, before a kill for Lancaster, an attack error and a kill for Schulte sealed the deal as the Mountain Hawks held on for the 15-11 final set win and match victory.
"Every match we go out in the Patriot League is going to end up being a battle," said Keckler. "I think from last night [against Loyola], we took a few things that we needed to address in regards to offensive attacks and where we could go and defensive changes we needed to make. The girls did a great job going out and executing those things.
"Certainly Navy figured some things out and counteracted in sets three and four, but we tried to battle back with our tactics and it worked."
Lehigh hit .255 for the match including .444 in the second and .615 with just one error in the fifth set. Sophia Meagher led the team with eight blocks, Megan Schulte had six and Lylah Washington five. Sarah Burau registered the 34 assist, 17 dig double-double, while Ally Thaw had 19 digs to pace all players on the floor.
For Navy, Avery Stowell finished with 16 kills, Maggie Bodman had 14 and Averi Miller picked up 30 assists.
The win for Lehigh is its second Patriot League victory of the season and head into the new week with tons of momentum for the rest of the league schedule. The Mountain Hawks have a non-league tune-up on Tuesday evening at Fairleigh Dickinson before returning home Friday against American at 7 p.m.
"Every match is a continuation of what we're learning as a team from set to set," Keckler said. "We're kind of balancing out a few things that we need to tweak here and there but ultimately our job is to take steps every set that we play and every practice that we have. We'll be preparing for FDU on Monday and hoping to utilize some of those things that we learned into the weekend against American and Holy Cross."
Like Lehigh Volleyball on Facebook, follow on Twitter and Instagram for continued updates on the Mountain Hawks.
Three Mountain Hawks filled the stat sheet in kills as freshman Megan Schulte finished with kills, Lylah Washington had 12 and Sabrina Lancaster 11.
"I'm honestly just so super proud of the girls, I wanted this so badly for them," said head coach Alexa Keckler following the victory. "They've been working so hard. We've been fighting every single match this season but just haven't been able to come out on top. We had so many contributors, so many players that came in and did their jobs. It was a really well-rounded performance for everyone.
"It obviously feels great to get the win, but it was a battle our girls earned and they worked extremely hard for it."
Navy opened the first set on a 12-6 run after the Maggie Bodman kill and service ace for Avery Stowell. Lehigh was able to tie the set at 15-15 before the Mids got two straight to lead 17-15. Trailing 19-17, the Mountain Hawks won six of the next seven points to take a 22-20 advantage. An Emily Stewart kill put Lehigh in the driver's seat up 24-22, but Navy forced extra time on back-to-back kills at 24-24. An attack error for Navy and a kill for Stewart gave Lehigh the 26-24 win.
The only lead for Navy in the second set occurred at 6-5, as the Mountain Hawks took advantage of three unforced errors from the opposition to lead 9-6. Lehigh turned a one-point lead at 10-9 into an eight-point advantage at 21-13 following a kill each for Schulte and Lancaster. Lehigh won the final four points to take a 25-15 set 2 win and a commanding 2-0 lead in the match.
The Mids opened the third set on a 10-5 run before kills from Washington and Schulte brought the deficit back to four points. Navy took a 17-9 lead, but the Mountain Hawks rallied for five straight on three straight attack errors, trailing 17-14. The Midshipmen closed the set on an 8-2 run to win, 25-17.
Looking to get back the momentum after dropping a third set to their opponents, the Mountain Hawks led by as many as three at 10-7 early. Navy extended its lead to four points before Lehigh won four straight to tie it at 21-21. The Mids won four of the last five tallies to force the deciding fifth set with a 25-22 set 4 win.
The fifth set was neck and neck for most of the stanza, before Lehigh broke free to lead by three points at 12-9. Navy cut the gap to just one, before a kill for Lancaster, an attack error and a kill for Schulte sealed the deal as the Mountain Hawks held on for the 15-11 final set win and match victory.
"Every match we go out in the Patriot League is going to end up being a battle," said Keckler. "I think from last night [against Loyola], we took a few things that we needed to address in regards to offensive attacks and where we could go and defensive changes we needed to make. The girls did a great job going out and executing those things.
"Certainly Navy figured some things out and counteracted in sets three and four, but we tried to battle back with our tactics and it worked."
Lehigh hit .255 for the match including .444 in the second and .615 with just one error in the fifth set. Sophia Meagher led the team with eight blocks, Megan Schulte had six and Lylah Washington five. Sarah Burau registered the 34 assist, 17 dig double-double, while Ally Thaw had 19 digs to pace all players on the floor.
For Navy, Avery Stowell finished with 16 kills, Maggie Bodman had 14 and Averi Miller picked up 30 assists.
The win for Lehigh is its second Patriot League victory of the season and head into the new week with tons of momentum for the rest of the league schedule. The Mountain Hawks have a non-league tune-up on Tuesday evening at Fairleigh Dickinson before returning home Friday against American at 7 p.m.
"Every match is a continuation of what we're learning as a team from set to set," Keckler said. "We're kind of balancing out a few things that we need to tweak here and there but ultimately our job is to take steps every set that we play and every practice that we have. We'll be preparing for FDU on Monday and hoping to utilize some of those things that we learned into the weekend against American and Holy Cross."
Like Lehigh Volleyball on Facebook, follow on Twitter and Instagram for continued updates on the Mountain Hawks.
Team Stats
Navy
Lehigh
Kills
54
57
Errors
31
19
Attempts
162
149
Hitting %
.142
.255
Points
69
73
Assists
50
48
Aces
10
4
Blocks
5
12
Game Leaders
Kills
13
Aces
2
Blocks
6
Kills
12
Aces
0
Blocks
5
Kills
11
Aces
0
Blocks
0
Kills
7
Aces
0
Blocks
4
Players Mentioned
S
/ VolleyballOH
/ Volleyball
MB/OH
/ 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
