Bucknell University
1-2,1-2Patriot
Lehigh
1-4,1-4Patriot
Volleyball Suffers 3-1 Setback Against Lehigh
3/12/2021 10:15:00 PM | Volleyball
LEWISBURG, Pa. - Senior Delanie Lewis supplied a career-high 18 kills, and three Bison posted double-digit digs, but Bucknell volleyball fell 3-1 (25-23, 23-25, 22-25, 20-25) at Davis Gym to the Lehigh Mountain Hawks on Friday night. With the loss, Bucknell fell to 1-2 on the season while Lehigh improved to 1-4. It was the first of two matches the Bison are scheduled to play against the Mountain Hawks this weekend.
Joining Lewis with double-digit kills was rookie Valentina Feigl (11). The Patriot League Rookie of the Week also added two more blocks to her season total. Leading the Bison in blocks was fellow rookie Allie Lopez, who posted four. Lopez also dished out eight kills with a team-high .375 hitting percentage.
Rookie Libby Nieporte and sophomore Sarina Singer led the Bison in digs (19). Sophomore Kelsey O'Loughlin added 10 digs and finished with a match-high 41 assists. Bucknell posted a .210 hitting percentage for the match.
Lehigh recorded a .274 hitting percentage and added 13 total blocks. Lehigh's Hannah Wright led the Mountain Hawks in kills (20) while hitting .286, and Sophie Robinson posted a match-high eight blocks.
"I think Lehigh just frustrated us. We weren't in a good rhythm, and it's just hard to get on any kind of a roll," said head coach Tyler Hagstrom. "I think blocking-wise, we earned some good spots, but we just didn't finish. We just need to clean up a couple of things."
Bucknell won the opening set after the two teams traded leads throughout its duration. Trailing 22-21, the Bison used a 4-1 run that included three kills from Lewis to take a 1-0 lead in the match. Bucknell led much of the way in set two before Lehigh tied it up at 18-all. The teams matched up again at 21-21, but this time it was the Mountain Hawks that ended the set on a 4-2 run to even the match score.
Bucknell fell behind 20-12 in the third set and rallied to cut the deficit to two at 24-22, however, Lehigh again got the final kill and upped their match lead to 2-1. A 5-1 Lehigh run in the fourth set put Bucknell in an 18-12 hole that it wasn't able to recover from, and the Mountain Hawks sealed the victory with a 25-20 score in the final frame.
Bucknell will take another swing at the Mountain Hawks on Sunday when they travel to Bethlehem, Pa. for a 4 p.m. contest. Sunday's match will be broadcast on ESPN+.
