Oct. 7, 2010
Box Score
EASTON, Pa. - The Lafayette volleyball team grabbed an early advantage by taking set one from perennial rival Lehigh on Thursday night. The Leopards, however, were unable to maintain their momentum as the visiting Mountain Hawks won the next three sets to leave Kirby Sports Center with a 3-1 win.
With the loss, Lafayette falls to 4-15 overall and 0-5 in Patriot League play. Lehigh, which extends its lead in the all-time series to 42-29, improves to 8-9 on the season with a 2-3 mark in league play. The Mountain took the contest by set scores of 23-25, 25-19, 25-13 and 25-14.
The Leopards were paced by seven kills from senior co-captain Kayly Elmer. Elmer has now surpassed the 1,100-kill plateau for her career. With 1,103 career finishers, she is 66 shy of second place all-time at Lafayette, a mark currently held by Hope McCorkle '98. Veronica Canto-Ponce '07 owns the all-time record with 1,600 kills.
Lafayette also got six kills from senior co-captain Katrina Racibarskas and five off the bench courtesy of sophomore Kaitlynn Zoller. Junior Alana Taylor had four kills for the Leopards, sophomore Alexandra Russo and freshman Karissa Ciliento each added three finishers and freshman Molly Belcher dropped in one in addition to her team-best 21 assists.
Defensively, junior Christy Mebust paced the back row with 12 digs and freshman Mackenzie Larsen recorded eight of the libero spot. At the net, Taylor had a match-high four blocks as Lafayette outblocked Lehigh, 8-6.
Racibarskas landed two of the Leopards' six service aces, but Lehigh dominated the category by serving up 17 winners. Taylor Poole led all players with six aces for the visitors.
Courtney McCutchan (11 kills, 19 digs) and Angelika Kopacz (11 kills, 10 digs) both posted double-doubles for the victorious Mountain Hawks. Jessica Kudirka had a match-high 26 assists, while McCutchan and Rachel Charles each had a match-best 19 digs.
The Leopards return to the court on Friday, Oct. 15 at American for a 7 p.m. Patriot League match. The league weekend concludes at noon on Oct. 16 at Navy. Action returns to Kirby Sports Center the following weekend, as the Patriot League schedule turns over with defending champion Army (Oct. 22, 7 p.m.) and Holy Cross (Oct. 23, 2 p.m.) visiting College Hill.
