Lehigh gets defensive in win at Colgate

Hamilton, NY- In a back and forth affair, the Mountain Hawks persevered to outlast the Colgate Raiders in five games. Only one of the games was close, as Colgate won the fourth game 31-29 to force the decisive game.
Lehigh came out strong early, winning the first game 30-20. But Colgate answered right back taking the second game 30-21. The Mountain Hawks ran away with the third, 30-19, before Colgate’s close win to force the fifth. The game was tied at 6-6 in the fifth, and then a 7-0 run after a timeout put the game out of reach and the Mountain Hawks won 15-7.
Head coach Patrick Nicholas praised his team’s defensive efforts. That was our best defensive performance this season by far, said Nicholas. We’ve been working on blocking all week, and it finally started to pay off tonight. Physically, we know we can play this way, it’s just been a struggle for us to stay consistent mentally. Tonight we finally had some of that consistency.
After only once putting a player in double figures in blocks in 17 matches this season, the Mountain Hawks (10-8, 2-2) had two players do so tonight, as Morgan Volkart (12 blocks) and Katie Dukatz (12 blocks) led the team to a season-high 40 blocks overall. In the marathon affair, Michelle Schwendenmann reached double figures in kills for the sixth straight match, leading the team with 18 kills. She had a double double, chipping in with 12 digs on the evening. Jeanette Singleton had a double double also, with 14 kills and 14 digs. Allison Jack led the team as always with 46 assists, and had 10 digs as well. Laurel Oliver led Colgate (5-13, 2-2) with 23 kills.
Lehigh finishes their Patriot League road swing at 2-2, and return home this weekend to host their league home opener as they take on Army Friday night at 7:00.