South Mountaineer Volume 40, Issue 06

              Lehigh Athletics
Website: http://www.lehigh.edu
Hotline: (610) 758-LULU
FOOTBALL: Second half rally falls short against Harvard
11
SOCCER: Women defeat Hofstra in OT
10
CROSS COUNTRY: Teams face off against Lafayette
11
South Mountaineer
Volume 11, Issue 6
Lehigh University Athletics Weekly
Octover 1,1997
Volleyball
Lehigh remains perfect at home with
Team effort ensures emotional four set victory over Colgate
win
Marta Mielcarz
by Jason Jenkins
The women's volleyball team
remained perfect at home with an
emotional four set triumph over
Patriot
League rival
Colgate, Satur
day at Grace
Hall.
The Mountain
Hawks defeated
the Red Raiders
15-11, 15-10, 11-
lS, 15-13. .
"We showed a
lot of character
tonight,"
Patrick Nicho
las, head
volleyball coach
said. "Colgate is
a top-100 team
and they had us
down 13 to 5
before we made
our comeback."
Nicholas said
the team played with pride, determination and hustle to earn the victory.
Last week's Patriot League offensive player of the week, Marta
Mielcarz, played another spectacular
game Saturday, recording 22 kills.
The junior from Langhorne, Pennsylvania, had a double-double notching
Kim Freedman
Mountain Hawk volleyball team has 7-0 record at Grace Hall picture: Joe Ryan
29 digs and hitting .333 for the game.
Returning from an injury that sidelined
her throughout the Lehigh Invitational
Tournament, junior Kimberly Freedman
added 19 kills and 11 digs.
"My hat is off to Karoline Kenreich
(Lehigh sports medicine) for the work she
did to get Kim back."
The Quakertown, Pennsylvania native
leads the team with an average of 4.1 kills
per game.
Junior Jessica McCarthy pitched in 19
kills and added 8 digs.
Lehigh team captain Patty Watson
added a team high 63 assists.
"Patty was all over the place,"
Nicholas," said.
The junior from Carmel, Indiana
was the third Lehigh player to record
a double-double recording 14 digs
against Colgate.
Sophomore Veronica Ret led the
Mountain Hawks with 8 blocks.
"We worked hard the whole week
on blocking and digging," Nicholas
said. "The women are starting to see
rewards for all the hard work we put
into practice."
Colgate was picked third in the
preseason Patriot League poll.
Lehigh was picked fourth.
Lehigh/Colgate Game
Stats
1    2    3
4
LU       15 11   11
15
CU      11   10 15
13
Kills
Lehiah
Marta Mielcarz
22
Kim Freedman
19
Jessica McCarthy
19
Colaate
Tara Lyons
16
JudyCulhane
15
Lisa Breiner
11
Digs
Lehiah
Marta Mielcarz
29
Shannon Doherty
20
Patty Watson
14
Colaate
Tara Lyon
8
Lisa Breiner
6
Assists
Lehiah
Patty Watson
63
Colgate
Paige Springer
40
Blocks
Lehiah
Veronic Ret
8
Colaate
Tara Lyons
3
New volleyball coach makes immediate impact in victories and players
Patrick Nicholas provides wealth of experience and leadership to Mountain Hawk volleyball team
Patrick Nicholas
Patrick Nicholas begins his
first season as head volleyball coach at
Lehigh University.
Nicholas received
his bachelor of
science degree from
George Mason
University in
1986.
He comes to
Lehigh from Ohio
State University
where he served as
assistant coach of the women's team
from 1995-97.
During both years the
Buckeyes advanced to the NCAA
"Sweet 16".
Nicholas said the experience
he gained while at Ohio State helped
him to become the successful head
coach he is today.
"As an assistant at a top
program I learned how to get the most
out of my players training wise."
Nicholas said he jumped at the
chance to be the head coach at Lehigh
because of the challenges it presented.
"In the preseason we were ranked
239th out of 292 teams in Division I," he
said.  "I don't want to take baby steps, I
want aggressive goals for the program."
With Saturday's win over Patriot
League rival and top-100 team Colgate,
Nicholas goals are already beginning to
fall in place.
"We have the potential to win the
conference and play in the NCAA play-in
this year," he said.  "I want to consistently
be one of the top three teams in the league
and compete in the tournament every
year.
He began his head coaching
position at Lehigh after completing his
tenure as head coach of the United States
Boys Junior National Team this summer
which competed in Italy.
Earlier this summer Nicholas was
the head coach of the U.S.A.
Volleyball High Performance Camp
and the boys 16 and under High
Performance Camp.
In addition, he served as an
assistant to the United States
National Teams.
From 1994-95. he served as
the Purdue University assistant
women's coach.
He served as an assistant
coach of the United State Women's
Volleyball Team in 1993-94 and
assistant coach of the league
champion San Diego Spikers of the
women's professional league in 1994.
Nicholas served as head
coach of the San Diego Volleyball
Club in 1993-94 and head coach of
the silver medal All-Army Volleyball
Team in 1993.
From 1992-94, Nicholas was
an assistant women's volleyball
coach at Georgetown University in
1991 and head coach of the Navy
men's volleyball team from 1985-
1990.
Nicholas earned
conference coach-of-the-year
honors in 1989.
His coaching career
began at George Mason
University from 1983-85 as
assistant men's volleyball coach
where the Patriots made two
NCAA Final Four appearances.
As an undergraduate at
George Mason, Nicholas played
on the school's first-ever top-ten
nationally ranked team.
Also, he played on the
Club Annapolis Gold Medal team
(U.S. Open Championships) in
1990 and Washington Volleyball
Club bronze medal team (U.S.
Open Championships).