Nov. 1, 2014 Final Stats
BETHLEHEM, Pa. -- Lehigh went on small runs late in a trio of sets to help the Mountain Hawks record a narrow four-set win (25-22, 25-23, 21-25, 25-22) over the Navy volleyball team, Saturday evening at Leeman-Turner Arena in Bethlehem, Pa.
The loss drops Navy's record in league play to 8-4, while Lehigh improves its mark to 11-2. Depending upon results from other matches being played Saturday, the Mids will be no worse than in a tie for third place with just two weeks remaining in the campaign. Meanwhile, the Mountain Hawks solidified their hold on second place with their win today.
"As a whole," said Navy head coach Larry Bock, "we didn't play great volleyball today. We can pin most of those things down. There were some good individual efforts mixed in there, too.
"It was a very tenacious performance by us. We were fighting, clawing, kicking, screaming and scratching to the end of every point and the match. That will translate well for us, but we need to kick things into gear quickly."
Lehigh started the match by scoring seven of the first eight points of the opening set, but Navy quickly answered and tied the frame at 9-9. The Mountain Hawks slowly regained a four-point lead at 18-14, but once again the Mids answered and took a 20-19 lead. Lehigh ran off the ensuing four points to take a 23-20 lead, then the squads traded points over the rest of the set.
The Mountain Hawks again put together a strong start to the second set as they built a 9-5 advantage. The Mids sliced that margin in half when they pulled to within 11-9, but a 6-2 Lehigh run gave them a 17-11 lead. Lehigh soon took a 23-17 lead, but the Mids tallied the next four points to close to within two points at 23-21. A Navy attack error gave Lehigh its 24th point of the set, but a kill by Katie Sylakowski (Jr., Escondido, Calif.) and a Lehigh attack error made the score 24-23 in favor of the Mountain Hawks. Lehigh then notched a kill on the next point to take a 2-0 lead in sets.
Navy again found itself trailing by a few points at the start of the third set as Lehigh took a slim 8-5 lead. Navy would take a 12-11 lead before the score was tied at 12-12, 13-13, 14-14 and 17-17. A Lehigh service error gave the serve back to Navy with the Mids holding an 18-17 lead. It would quickly became a 22-17 advantage for the Mids on a block, a bad set by Lehigh, a Lehigh attack error and a kill by Tara Dotzauer (Fr., Raleigh, N.C.). The Navy lead soon grew to 24-18, which provided enough of a cushion for the Mids to win the set.
Lehigh tried to separate itself from Navy several times in the middle part of the fourth set as the Mountain Hawks took leads of 12-8, 15-11 and 18-15. The Mids tallied back-to-back points to close to within one point at 18-17, then again trailed by just one point at 20-19. A Navy attack error followed by a Lehigh service ace gave the Mountain Hawks a 22-19 lead. The teams traded points over the remainder of the set to give Lehigh the match.
"Lehigh transitioned really well today," said Bock. "Their dig-set-hit sequences were of a higher caliber than ours was. We had a lot of digs, but we were running around on a football field trying to corral their attacks, while Lehigh was digging our hits on a volleyball court."
Navy held statistical advantages over Lehigh in kills (55-49), aces (12-7) and digs (77-59), but the Mids committed 29 attack errors to just 14 for the Mountain Hawks. Those numbers would add up to Lehigh holding a .238-.171 advantage in hitting percentage.
Sylakowski had a strong offensive match for the Mids as she totaled 15 kills and a .462 attack percentage. Dotzauer added 10 kills, while Alli Graf (So., Annapolis, Md.) dropped in six service aces and snared 29 digs.
Lehigh's offense was led by Stephanie Slater and her 14 kills, while Mariah Brantley grabbed 21 digs for the team.
Navy will close out the home portion of its season with matches this week against American on Wednesday and Colgate on Sat., Nov. 8.
