Lehigh volleyball team set to face Lafayette

Lehigh volleyball will kick off the beginning of Patriot League play by battling rival Lafayette at home Wednesday night.

The Mountain Hawks (4-9) have spent their non-conference period participating in tournaments that have allowed them to play competitive teams. Because of the team’s busy tournament schedule, they won’t start preparing for the Lafayette game until the Monday and Tuesday leading up to it, coach Bob Bertucci said.

“The bigger picture is that we’re challenging ourselves in preseason so that we can find out all the weaknesses we have and hopefully get them ironed out before we have to play Lafayette and start conference play,” Bertucci said.

The Mountain Hawks finished their preseason tournament run with University of Pittsburgh’s Panther Challenge on Sept. 16 and 17. Senior Katie Jennison said the team was looking to challenge itself at this tournament before heading into its upcoming Patriot League games.

Between the Panther Challenge and its previous tournament, the Bama Bash hosted by the University of Alabama, junior libero Hannah Chalk notes there have been several takeaways.

“These teams are really strong and more physical than us,” Chalk said. “We definitely learned that the bench is a very important part and that everyone needs to bring a lot of energy and support for the team since we are very small this year.”

The team has been strong in passing and controlling the ball, Bertucci said. However, its weakness lies in an aspect it cannot control the fact that their team is very young.

Freshman middle blocker Lauren Bright preparing for a serve during a match against Providence College on Friday, Sept. 2, 2016, at Grace Hall. Bright made her varsity debut with five kills before leaving during the third game due to injury. (Annie Henry/B&W Staff)

“We’re kind of a new team,” Bertucci said. “That’s kind of the challenge right now, and the girls are working really hard at it, and I think (they) are going to come around really soon.”

In Bertucci’s past five seasons as head coach of Lehigh volleyball, the Mountain Hawks have only lost to Lafayette once — last year at home. Though Bertucci has seen Lafayette improving each year, he said his team has been focused on itself and has addressed what it knows will be helpful in Wednesday’s game.

The Leopards are coached by a Lafayette alum who puts a lot of emphasis on the rivalry games, Bertucci said. Both Chalk and senior Katie Jennison agree that while they do get excited for the rivalry games, they try to treat them like any other game by competing as hard as they normally would.

“We try to keep it in perspective that it’s not an end-all be-all game,” Jennison said. “It always feels good to beat Lafayette, but going into it I always tell myself that it’s just another game that we have to show up to and we have to do well in.”

After Lafayette, the Mountain Hawks will finish the week by traveling to Navy and then Loyola. Chalk said the team is hoping to use the Lafayette game to make an impact and show who it is as it enters conference play.