DOVER, Del. - Down, 2-0, it looked as though the Delaware State University volleyball team was going to make a comeback after winning set three, but the Hornets hit a -.263 attack percentage en route to a 10-25 set four and eventual 1-3 match loss to Lehigh University Tuesday evening at Memorial Hall.
Junior Bel Fakaosi (Salt Lake City, Utah) collected a game-high 12 digs and team-high 18 assists in the loss. Sophomore Jessica Croucher (Brisbane, Australia) and freshman Edarkis Branch (Los Angeles, Calif.) each tallied six kills on the night. Senior Elisa Herrmann (Andernach, Germany) recorded five kills and a team-leading .267 attack percentage (five kills/one error/15 total attacks).
Paige Kruse contributed a game-high 11 kills while Jessica Kudirka had a game-high 38 assists for Lehigh.
In the first set, the Mountain Hawks took off on a 9-0 run to take a 13-7 lead over the Hornets. DSU came back within five at 10-15 before Lehigh went on another run, this time rattling off six unanswered points to go up, 20-10. The Mountain Hawks finished the set, 25-16, with a service ace from Taylor Poole.
Lehigh jumped out to a quick 7-1 lead over Del State in set two, including three DSU errors. The Hornets cut the lead to 14-15 and 17-19 before the Mountain Hawks finished the set with six straight points with Poole serving to win, 25-17.
DSU avoided a sweep in set three as they won, 25-22. With Fakaosi serving, the Hornets took a 17-9 lead. Lehigh slowly cut into Del State's lead, but DSU received two kills from sophomore Brooke Redmon (Warrenton, Va.) and one from Herrmann to take the victory.
The momentum from set three didn't carry over into the fourth set for the Hornets as they posted a -.263 attack percentage (three kills/eight errors) compared to Lehigh's .391 (14 kills/five errors). The Mountain Hawks started the game with a 10-2 lead. Del State would come within eight again at 16-8, but Lehigh responded with seven points with Jessica Kudirka serving to take a 23-9 lead. The Hornets scored just one more point as they lost the set, 25-10.
The match wraps up non-conference play for DSU as they fall to 3-17 overall on the season while the Mountain Hawks improve to 15-8.
The Hornets travel to Washington, D.C. to take on the Howard Bison at 3 p.m. on Sunday.
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