The Lehigh women’s volleyball team faced its oldest rival, Lafayette, for the second time this season.
In the first match-up, which took place on Sept. 27, the Mountain Hawks swept the Leopards in a 3-0 victory on their home court.
One month later, Lehigh traveled to Easton, Pennsylvania for a re-match and beat Lafayette again. The final score was 3-0.
First-year setter Kamryn Utley said the team was determined to continue the momentum from their first match.
“It’s super fun when you are just competing and have a sense of urgency to win,” Utley said.
While Utley didn’t see any court time in the first matchup, she led the team with 18 assists in the rematch, including the first assist in the game to senior captain Megan Schulte for a kill on the outside.
Utley said going into the game with one win under their belt gave the team drive to beat Lafayette again.
On the defensive end, Utley had seven digs. She said the team wanted to prove their dominance by playing aggressively.
Sophomore outside hitter Alysia Fingall blocks a spike by Lafayette on Sept. 27. The team won the first rivalry matchup of the season 3-0. (Darcy Tucker/B&W Staff)
Schulte contributed to the win with a total of 10 kills and three blocks during the match. The outside hitter said she’s excited about how the team has improved against the Leopards over the past four years.
“It was such a good switch, because my freshman year, I feel like we struggled to beat them, and the past three games we have played them we kind of wiped them,” Schulte said.
Schulte added seven kills early in the match to give the Hawks the 2-0 advantage. She said the team’s organization prior to the match is a big part of why they were victorious.
“I think we’ve been focusing a lot recently on our game plan, so making sure that we have a plan going into the game and then really working to follow it,” Schulte said.
This was Schulte’s final time facing the Leopards, and she said it feels good to leave with a winning record.
With a 13-9 record on the season, Schulte said she’s confident the team will make it far this season.
She said the team has won more games this season than any she’s played at Lehigh, which she hopes will allow them to compete and win the Patriot League Championship.
Sophomore Ufuoma Omene, who had four kills during the game, said the team’s win illicited an overall positive energy.
Omene said even through some tough mistakes, it was an even field game.
“Even the mistakes that we did make were pretty much consistent with each other,” Omene said.
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