Final Stats

BETHLEHEM, Pa. - In the Leopards' first Patriot League game of the 2016 season, the Lafayette volleyball team was defeated 3-0 (15-25, 17-25, 20-25) on Wednesday night at Lehigh.

The Leopards (2-9, 0-1 PL) found themselves trailing 12-5 in the first set after an 8-2 run by Lehigh (5-9, 1-0 PL). After another short run by the Mountain Hawks, the Leopards gained some ground with Jet Manzi serving. After an ace, kills from Elizabeth Walsh and Kelly Flynn and an attacking error by Lehigh, the Leopards trimmed the deficit to six.

Despite narrowing the gap though, Lehigh went on to outscore Lafayette 7-3 the rest of the way to take the opening set, 25-15.

The second set started off just like the first with the Mountain Hawks grabbing the early lead. Lehigh led 17-9, but the Leopards once again started to climb back into the set in large part to four errors by the Mountain Hawks.

It was a three-point game until Lehigh put the set away with another 7-3 run.

Early in the third set, the Leopards took a 4-2 lead after back-to-back kills from Walsh and Julia Howard. Lehigh jumped right back into the lead though after a 5-1 run. Trailing by two, Sonia Musso buried an attack and then the Mountain Hawks committed three consecutive errors to help Lafayette regain the lead.

An 8-1 run by the Mountain Hawks helped them begin to separate from the Leopards, but Lafayette responded with a 4-0 run to make it a three-point game.

Lehigh warded off the Leopards in the later stages of the set and went on to grab the 3-0 conference victory.

The Leopards will continue their road trip as they head to Baltimore, Md. for a matchup with Loyola on Friday at 7 p.m.