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BETHLEHEM, Pa. - The Villanova volleyball team earned a 25-23, 25-21, 25-22 straight set victory over Lehigh on the road in Bethlehem, Pa. Tuesday night.

The Wildcats (4-3, 0-0 BIG EAST) were led by a pair of double-doubles from sophomore outside hitter Allie Loitz (Bonita, Calif./Bonita Vista) and senior setter Emma Pettit (Ft. Collins, Colo./Fossil Ridge). Loitz recorded a team-high 14 kills and 13 digs while Pettit handed out 33 assists and had 11 digs.

Lehigh (5-3 overall) was led by Leah Turner with 13 kills and Mariah Brantley with 11 digs.

"It's always nice to get a win on the road," said Villanova head coach Josh Steinbach. "It doesn't matter how pretty it is. It's just about getting the job done."

Steinbach's offense was given a boost from Gabby Pethokoukis (Western Springs, Ill./Benet Academy) who recorded nine kills and freshman Darcy Wolf (Allentown, Pa./Central Catholic) who recorded seven kills in her first start as a Wildcat.

"She's been playing really well in practice," said Steinbach of Wolf. "She was really nervous since she's from the area but she settled in pretty nicely and played well at the end of the match."

The first set was closely contested with nine separate tie scores, the first at 2-2 and the final at 23-23. Villanova broke the final tie with one of Claire Crutchfield's (Falls Church, Va./Bishop O'Connell) six kills and won the set on a Makenzie Northrup (San Clemente, Calif./San Clemente) service ace.

In the second set the Wildcats used a pair of 4-0 spurts to gain a 24-17 advantage late in the set. Lehigh put together a 4-0 run of its own but the lead was too much as Wolf got the final kill to claim the frame.

Villanova was starting to pull away in the third set up 17-10 but the Mountain Hawks used a 5-0 run to get back in to the set and eventually tied the set at 20-20 and later at 22-22. Wolf's final kill and a pair of Lehigh hitting errors gave Villanova the final three points it needed to earn the win.

The Villanova volleyball team will host the Villanova Classic this weekend on Sept. 11-12. The Wildcats start the weekend with Siena on Friday at 7:00pm and play a pair of games on Saturday: Howard at 1:00pm and James Madison at 7:30pm.

Short Box Score (Match) 2015 Villanova Volleyball Villanova vs Lehigh (Sep 08, 2015 at Bethlehem, Pa.)

Villanova def. Lehigh 25-23,25-21,25-22

Villanova (4-3) (Kills-aces-blocks) - Loitz, Allie 14-0-3; Pethokoukis, Gabby 9-0-1; Wolf, Darcy 7-0-0; Crutchfield, Claire 6-0-2; PEDERSEN-HENRY, A. 6-0-3; Adams, Michelle 1-0-0; REMBERT, Brittany 1-0-0; Knight, Ashley 1-0-1; Northrup, Makenzie 0-1-0; Fitzgerald, Allison 0-2-0; Totals 45-3-5.0. (Assists) - Pettit, Emma 33. (Dig leaders) - Loitz, Allie 13; Northrup, Makenzie 11; Pettit, Emma 11; Fitzgerald, Allison 10; Adams, Michelle 9

Lehigh (5-3) (Kills-aces-blocks) - Turner, Leah 13-0-1; Slater, Stephanie 7-0-3; Vrhel, Ana 6-1-5; Krantz, Whitney 6-0-1; Jennison, Katie 5-0-2; Matula, Amy 2-0-0; Develle, Emily 1-0-0; Bradshaw, Claire 1-0-0; Polak, Megan 0-0-1; Totals 41-1-7.0. (Assists) - Matula, Amy 25; Polak, Megan 10. (Dig leaders) - Brantley, Mariah 11; Bradshaw, Claire 10; Develle, Emily 9

Site: Bethlehem, Pa. (Leeman-Turner Arena) Date: Sep 08, 2015 Attend: 205 Time: 1:23 Referees: Owen Reiley, Bob Rheghetta