Final Stats

WASHINGTON, D.C. - Lehigh forced the Navy volleyball team into 23 attack errors to help the Mountain Hawks record a three-set win over the Mids Saturday afternoon in the semifinal round of the Patriot League Tournament at Bender Arena in Washington, D.C. Lehigh advances to Sunday's championship match against top-seeded American by virtue of its 25-19, 25-19, 28-26 win over Navy.

"It wasn't pretty on either side of the net," said Navy head coach Larry Bock. "What was good for us was, one, we improved in each and every set and, two, our players left their hearts out on the floor. That's all we can ask."

"I thought everyone left it all out there on the court," said Navy senior team captain Alex Cassel (Sandy, Utah), who played her final match today. "It wasn't necessarily our `A' game, but the hustle was there on every point and we never gave up."

Lehigh (22-9) took slim leads in both the first and second sets before expanding the margin late in each frame. The Mountain Hawks led 20-19 in the opener before closing out the frame with five-straight points, then held a 19-17 advantage in the second set before going on a 4-0 run to take a 23-17 advantage on their way to taking a 2-0 lead.

Navy was the team to take a lead in the third set as the Mids (14-12) built advantages of 14-10, 21-15 and 22-17. A Navy service error gave the serve back to Lehigh, then back-to-back kills by Leah Turner sandwiched around a Navy timeout cut the lead for the Mids down to 22-20. Mariah Brantley dropped in an ace for the Mountain Hawks, then a Navy attack error tied the score at 22-22. That led to Bock calling the second of his two timeouts.

Lehigh's Kelly Bennett and Amy Matula promptly combined on a block coming out of the break to give the Mountain Hawks the lead. Navy answered when Tara Dotzauer (Fr., Raleigh, N.C.) posted a kill to tie the score at 23-23.

The Mountain Hawks reached match point on another kill from Turner, but a kill by Cassel staved off their first chance to close out the match. Jade Van Streepen knocked down a kill for Lehigh on the next point, but the ensuing play ended with Cassel and Gaby Smith (So., Virginia Beach, Va.) blocking Van Streepen to tie the set at 25-25. Rachel Fortner (Fr., Villa Hills, Ky.) posted a kill on the next point to break the tie and give the Mids a 26-25 lead. That was followed by a Lehigh timeout.

The Mountain Hawks went back to Van Streepen on the next play and she responded with a kill to tie the set at 26-26. Turner then set Kaylynn Genemaras for a kill to give the Mountain Hawks their third chance to win the match. The Mountain Hawks converted this opportunity when the Mids were unable to get the ball over the net within the required three touches.

Navy ended the match with more kills than Lehigh had, 38-37, and the Mids snared 20 more digs, 71-51, but the Mountain Hawks committed just nine attack errors to 23 for Navy. This was in spite of Lehigh holding just a 6-3 edge in blocks. That led Lehigh to producing a .237-.119 advantage in hitting percentage.

"Lehigh's ball control was a whole lot better that ours was tonight," said Bock. "Because of that they were getting better swings. I imagine (setters) Star Steele (Jr., Tampa, Fla.) and Rachel ran miles today. We didn't control the ball as well as we could have, should have, have been. Credit Lehigh for that. They were getting shots, played a really smart game and it was the same way the first time we played them in that they caused us some organizational problems."

Smith tallied a double-double for the Mids of 10 kills and 11 digs, while also hitting a team-high .231. Fortner very nearly had a triple-double as she finished the night with 8 kills, 18 assists and 18 digs.

Van Streepen led Lehigh with 11 kills.

Navy's season ends with the Mids having posted a winning record for the first time since 2008, winning both matches against Army for the first time since 2005, sweeping the Black Knights in a match for the first time since 1997, and qualifying for the Patriot League Tournament for the first time since 2008.

"This was another breakthrough year for us in a lot of ways," said Bock. "The bar is now higher, competitively and culturally. The onus is on us now to mot squander this momentum and keep it going. This is a good young team in a promising time for this program. We have to make the most of it."

The lone player the Mids lose from this year's roster is Cassel, who appeared in every match of her four-year career.

"Alex was just a stud for this program," said Bock. "A competitor, she put this team on her shoulders as captain. Remarkably, she never missed a match. That's not easy for a middle hitter."

"It was challenging my plebe year," said Cassel, "but this program was something I wanted to be part of. We kept getting better and better and this year we finally took off. They cam take this year and use it as a springboard into have many, many successful years ahead. The work ethic, from the plebe class to the second class we have right now, it is going to be a very good team next year and the year after that."