BOCA RATON, Fla. – Alabama A&M (0-2, 0-0 SWAC) could not withstand a withering offense as Lehigh (1-0, 0-0 Patriot) notched a 3-0 (25-13, 25-8, 25-11) victory in an NCAA Division I women's volleyball match at the FAU Invitational on Friday, August 26.
The Mountain Hawks would jump out to advantages of 6-2 and 10-6 before the Bulldogs pulled to within two with a 3-1 stretch to make it 11-9. From there, however, Lehigh erupted to score 14 of the final 18 points to close out the first set 25-13 and pull ahead 1-0.
Set No. 2 would see the teams close through the first 11 points with LU holding a narrow 6-5 lead. It would not stay that way as six straight points sparked a 19-3 set-ending run to power a commanding 25-8 decision and two set advantage.
Lehigh would pick up right where they left off with the start of the third frame, surging out to a 10-2 lead. The Bulldogs responded by taking four of the next seven points to cut it to 13-6 but that would be as close as they would get. From there it would be another withering 10-2 run to make it 23-8. A&M would post a mini 3-1 burst before a kill by Emily Stewart put the wraps on a 25-11 win and 3-0 sweep.
After doing it on offense and defense in the opener, freshman outside hitter
Bailey Duckett (Huntsville, Ala.) led the Bulldog defense with 10 digs and added five kills while sophomore setter
Keyara Brooks (Arlington, Texas) dished out 12 assists to go with six digs. Freshman outside hitter
Caitlin Shaw (Desoto, Texas) rounded out the top performers with seven kills and three digs.
Stewart led the Mountain Hawks with 10 kills and added seven digs and three block assists while Kyleigh Brown finished with 13 digs to anchor the defense and chipped in with four service aces. Makena Smith fueled the offense with 27 assists to go with seven digs and Megan Schulte added eight kills, four aces and three digs.
Alabama A&M wraps up their stay in Florida tomorrow, Saturday, August 27 as they take on Mercer in their final match at the FAU Invitational. First serve is set for bright and early at 9 a.m. Central Standard Time.
