By Spencer Spilman
The Lehman Lady Lobos volleyball team was snakebitten Friday as they fell to the Vandegrift Vipers 25-13, 25-12, 25-9.
The Lady Lobos leapt out to an early first set lead due in part to mistakes by Vandegrift, Their lead, however, was short lived as the Vipers went on an 11-1 run behind Bella Benoit and Ryan Palmieri. Vandegrift took a 14-6 lead following the run.
Lehman responded with a run of its own, aided by a block and a kill from Meagan Dees to close the gap to 15-10.
But Vandegrift closed the set on a 10-3 run, assisted by dominant play by Benoit.
The second set was similar to the first, as Lehman held an early lead thanks to Dees’ play at the net and a kill from Haley Hassinger.
But a 13-0 Vandegrift run gave the Vipers an 18-6 advantage. Vandegrift’s Madison Jaeger had three aces during the course of the scoring blitz.
Lehman’s Kaytlin Mendoza played strong at the net and had two blocks in the second set, but it was not enough to make up the deficit.
Vandegrift quickly gathered control in the third set by taking a 15-0 lead. Helping the Vipers were seven aces and several kills from Palmieri and Caroline Gehring.
Despite the deficit, Lehman continued to battle in the third set.
Lehman rallied to cut the score to 24-9 in the third frame, but Vandegrift’s height and experience allowed them to close out the match.
The Lady Lobos will look to get a late-season win against cross-town rival Hays on Friday.
