BETHLEHEM, Pa. -- A season-best 18 kills from Farrah Eike was not enough as the Navy volleyball team fell in four sets to Lehigh, Friday night at Grace Hall in Bethlehem, Pa.  The Mountain Hawks (8-6, 2-3) posted a 26-24, 20-25, 25-21, 25-17 victory over the Mids (5-8, 1-4) in a match lasting nearly two hours.

"I thought we executed a couple of things really well," said Navy head coach Paco Labrador.  "We contained one of Lehigh's top hitters, but couldn't solve their other offensive threats."

Set One
After Navy took a 12-8 lead, Lehigh tied the score at 15-15.  The Mids ran off the next three points to take an 18-15 advantage.  The margin fell to one point at 19-18 before Navy took a 23-19 lead.  The Mountain Hawks tallied the next two points to shave the four-point lead down to two, which led to a Navy timeout.  The stoppage didn't help the Mids as a Lehigh service ace on the ensuing point made it a 23-22 lead, which resulted in Labrador calling his second timeout.

A block by Caroline Buffum gave the Mids the chance to serve for the set with a 24-22 lead.  Lehigh extended play with a kill, then tied the score at 24-24 with another ace.  The Mountain Hawks posted another kill to take a 25-24 lead and would serve for the set.  They completed the rally with a Navy attack error.

Set Two
Navy fell behind 10-5, but soon took a 15-12 lead.  The last three points of the run came on aces by Ally Alessio. The media timeout ensued and afterward Alessio dropped in a fourth ace in a row to make the score 16-12.  The Mids soon extended their lead to 20-15.  A Navy service error was followed by back-to-back kills and a Lehigh attack error to give the Mids a 23-16 lead and result in a Lehigh timeout.

Lehigh scored the next two points on a kill and a block, which had Labrador calling timeout with a 23-18 lead.  A service error returned the serve to Navy and gave it the chance to serve for the set.  A kill by Lehigh kept play alive, then another Lehigh service error tied the match at one set each.

Set Three
Lehigh raced out to a 9-4 lead at the start of the stanza and led by as many as seven points at 13-6.  The Mids climbed back to within two points at 15-13, then winnowed the margin down to one point at 16-15.  The Mountain Hawks slowly extended their lead to 21-17, which led to a Navy timeout.  Lehigh soon built a 24-20 lead on its way to claiming the third set.

Set Four
Lehigh used a 5-1 run to take a 14-8 lead midway through the frame.  The Mids were able to make it a three-point difference at 14-11, but could not climb any closer before the end of the match.

Statistical Summary
Lehigh led in hitting, 55-46 in kills and .274-.179 in hitting percentage, despite both teams recording 21 attack errors.   The Mids tallied 11 blocks and the Mountain Hawks finished with 10, however, Lehigh grabbed 57 digs to better the 38 recorded by Navy.  Also, each team registered 10 aces in the match with Navy having only two more service errors (10-8).

Eike, who was playing in just her seventh match of the season due to nursing an injury from last spring at the start of the year, had previously posted a season high of 14 kills in five sets last weekend at Loyola.  Her 18 kills were the most by a Mid this season.

"Farrah hit really well," said Labrador, "but we need to balance out our hitting and spread the offense better as we progress through the season."

Ava Toppin joined her in double figures with 10 kills, Buffum notched eight kills and three blocks and Amara Chambers paced the Navy defense with 10 digs.  Additionally, Julia Humphrey totaled five blocks, Grace Burgoyne had four blocks and Isa Boyd dished out 33 assists which were the most for her in a four-set match in her career and fell just two helpers shy of tying her career high of 35.

"Isa had a career night running the offense and her serve was getting us good runs of points," said Labrador.  "We will keep battling and working to improve and compete very match."

Up Next
Navy stays in the Lehigh Valley overnight and will play at Lafayette Saturday at 6 p.m.