The AU volleyball team preserved its one game lead in the Patriot League standings after picking up a 3-1 win over the Lehigh Mountain Hawks Nov. 15 at Bender Arena.
AU, Colgate and Lehigh were the only three teams to have clinched a spot in the upcoming Patriot League tournament when the game started.
Lehigh’s status as one of the top teams in the conference was evident early as the Mountain Hawks opened with a strong first set, jumping out to an 11-9. The Eagles would regain the lead going after an 11-8 run.
The competitive nature of the first set culminated when both teams were tied at 24. After AU was looking at set point, leading 26-25, Lehigh would go on a three point run, capped off by an ace from Courtney McCutchan to secure a 28-25 first set victory.
“They came out with a lot of fight in them,” junior Allison Cappellino said of the Lehigh performance in the first half. “We weren’t as prepared in the first game, we had low emotions, we weren’t very steady, we weren’t very consistent.”
The loss snapped the Eagles’ 27 set win streak, which began when the Eagles faced the Mountain Hawks in Bethlehem, Pa. Oct. 12.
Despite trailing 6-4 to open the second set, AU would tie and then take the lead for the remainder of the set after Lehigh’s Amanda Clark committed back-to-back service errors putting the Eagles up 10-9. A kill by sophomore Kristyna Lindovska sealed the Eagles’ second set win 25-20, and evening the game score at 1-1.
AU dominated the third set holding Lehigh to just eight points and ended the third on an ace from senior Julie Crum which capped off a 10-1 Eagle run securing the 25-8 win.
“We definitely figured out towards the end of the match that what we needed to do was keep our composure,” Cappellino said.
Down two sets to one, the Mountain Hawks would regain some of the composure they displayed in the first set by jumping out to a 9-7 lead in what would be the last set of the night. In the final set, Crum made several important kills, two of which gave the Eagles the lead when the score was tied. AU would take the final set 25-20.
Crum would tie a game high 16 kills and was one of four Eagles to record double-digit kills. Cappellino also had a strong game, registering a double-double with 11 kills and 16 digs.
The victory sets up match against the Colgate Raiders on Nov. 16 in Bender Arena, which will decide home court advantage for the Patriot League Tournament. When the two teams faced off in Hamilton, N.Y. earlier in the season, the Eagles fought back from a two set deficit to win 3-2. The match will also serve as the final regular season game of the year for the Eagles, who will honor Crum and fellow seniors Morgan Hendrix and Kylann Scheidt.
“We have to stay focused and can’t let the emotions get the best of us,” Cappellino said about the strategy against Colgate. “Colgate always gets emotional and very intense for us.”
