HAMILTON, N.Y. – The No. 2 Lafayette College volleyball team's historic run to the Patriot League Championship Semifinal was ended Saturday night by fourth-seeded American in four sets (25-19, 23-25, 26-28, 18-25) at Cotterell Court.
 
Freshman Abby Nieporte would lead the Leopards in kills with 13 while seniors Grace Tulevech and Madi Wahrmund each delivered 11. Sophomore Alyssa Vitale had a double-double with 41 assists and 10 digs while classmate Katie Weston had 23 digs.
 
Lafayette got off to a fast start, taking control, 15-11, at the first media timeout after a kill by freshman Phoebe Glass. American was able to score out of the timeout, but Lafayette pieced together a quick 3-0 run to stretch its lead to 18-12.
 
Vitale had the dump-kill to create a set point before an American attack error closed the frame.
 
Wahrmund was the hot-hand early for Lafayette, picking up five kills and a block in the opener and went on to hit .556 for the match with three blocks.
 
The Leopards seemed to have control again in the second set, jumping out to a 10-5 advantage after the Glass putaway. Shortly after, American rattled off a 5-0 run to make it a one-point set and would tie the match at 15.
 
After sitting out for the last three weeks, senior and Patriot League Player of the Year Leanna Deegan entered the game and made an immediate impact with a kill on her first swing to make it 20-18, American, followed by teaming up with sophomore Gracie Gibson for a rejection to force an American timeout at 20-19.
 
Lafayette took a lead with a Nieporte kill to make it 23-22, but the Eagles rattled off three-straight to even the match at a set apiece.
 
The third set was another back-and-forth affair with 19 ties in the frame. Lafayette fought off two set-points before American finally pulled it out, 28-26.
 
American's Zeynep Uzen solidified her spot on the Patriot League First Team with a 28-kill effort, hitting .400 in the contest to will the Eagles to victory.
 
Deegan and Glass each notched six kills while Gibson added four with three blocks and no errors.
 
Lafayette's season comes to a close after head coach Ryan Adams and Deegan captured the program's first Patriot League major awards while the Leopards earned the highest seeding in the Patriot League tournament in program history.