Last Friday, the volleyball team (9-14 overall, 5-10 Patriot League) traveled to face crosstown rival Lehigh in its third-to-last Patriot League game, losing in straight sets. The Leopards then continued on to Lewisburg, Pennsylvania to face Bucknell on Saturday, but left with the same result.
The games against Lehigh and Bucknell were crucial for the Leopards who were hoping to claim the sixth and final Patriot League tournament spot.
In the first set against Lehigh, the Leopards came out strong, going up 2-0. However, the Mountain Hawks fought back to a 15-9 lead. They would continue to pull away from the Leopards, going on a 4-0 run to end the first set 25-14 then sweeping the next two sets to win the match.
Despite the result, there were some positives from the game, with freshman outside hitter Emma Patmon finishing the match with five kills.
“The rare loss against Lehigh was definitely a fluke, but we seemed to find a groove in Saturday’s game against Bucknell,” senior setter Alyssa Vitale said.
The following day, the Leopards traveled to Bucknell for their penultimate match of the season.
The match saw an equal start from both teams leading them to a 19-19 tie in the first set. What seemed like an even set quickly turned in the Bisons’ favor, with Bucknell pulling away and winning the first set 25-22.
The second set was a similar story. Despite fierce attacking efforts from the Leopards, the Bisons claimed it 25-17.
However, the Leopards failed to back down at the start of the third set. Patmon once again provided three crucial kills. Freshman middle blocker Irelynd Lorenzen was also crucial to the match, recording a total of seven kills and two digs.
While the rookies continued to put up a fight, the team was unable to capitalize, which proved costly in the latter stages of the match with the Bison completing the sweep by taking the third and final set 25-16.
“The atmosphere on the court was very positive on Saturday against Bucknell and our team put up a good fight,” Lorenzen said. “[I] was happy to have been able to contribute in a positive way even though we did not win.”
Lorenzen’s career-high game is a good sign for the Leopards, who have consistently relied on their freshmen to come up with big points this season.
“I look forward to seeing how much our team can improve throughout my time here at Lafayette,” Lorenzen said.
The Leopards will close out their Patriot League season away tomorrow against first-seed Colgate at 3 p.m. with their last chance at a postseason berth on the line.
“With [Colgate] being potentially the last week of our season, we are all just going to leave it on the court and play for each other,” Vitale said.