Lehigh’s women’s volleyball team won its senior day match against the second place Army West Point at the Leeman-Turner Arena at Grace Hall. The Mountain Hawks battled back from a 2-1 deficit to defeat their Patriot League opponent, 3-2.
“Tonight was a great match and Army is a terrific team,” coach Bob Bertucci said. “I give a lot of credit to our girls because they didn’t lose their composure after the second and third sets. They competed very hard and showed a lot of fight.”
The Black Knights led the Mountain Hawks in kills 59-55. The Mountain Hawks and Black Knights tied in both aces (nine) and blocks (seven). The Mountain Hawks topped Army’s in assists, 54-53, and digs, 80-78.
Lehigh seniors Stephanie Slater, Leah Turner and Ana Vrhel all added to the Mountain Hawks’ kills — Slater had 13 and Turner and Vrhel both had 12. In terms of aces, seniors Claire Bradshaw had three and both Amy Matula and Leah Turner had one.
Lehigh won the first set after an Army error to make it a 25-20 win. The Black Knights took this and answered right back, winning set two 25-10. The Black Knights also went on to win set three with a 25-16 victory.
The Mountain Hawks broke the two-set run in set four, battling point for point in a 25-19 set win over the Black Knights, which led to a 2-2 set tie. The match winning set was a battle for points — Lehigh got kills from Vrhel and sophomore Whitney Krantz. The Mountain Hawks went on to win the fifth set with a score of 15-12.
With this win, the Mountain Hawks have progressed to the Patriot League semifinals next weekend where they will once again face off against the Army. This will be Lehigh’s fifth straight Patriot League appearance and are hopeful to make it their third straight win.
The winner of that match will move on to Sunday’s championship game against the winner of the other semifinal game, which is a match between Colgate University and American University. Next weekend, the Mountain Hawks face the Black Knights at 4 p.m. in Washington D.C. at American’s Bender Arena.
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