The Brown & White

For the first time since 2003, the women's volleyball team clinched a spot in the Patriot League Tournament last Friday with a 3-1 win over Holy Cross. The tournament will kick off this Saturday in West Point, N.Y.

The three other teams in the tournament are Army, Colgate University and American University. Army is the top seed in the tournament and will host the tournament. Army, Colgate and American were all in the tournament last year, with American winning the championship.

Army finished 12-2 in Patriot League play, while Colgate and American finished 11-3. American is seeded higher than Colgate because of its better overall record. Lehigh is the fourth seed with a league record of 7-7.

Army will play Lehigh Saturday at 4 p.m., and American will play Colgate at 6 p.m. The winner of these games will play Sunday at 4 p.m. The winner of the Patriot League Tournament earns an automatic bid to the NCAA Tournament.

The Hawks have their hands full with the Black Knights. Army has beaten the Hawks twice, both times 3-1.

The last time the Black Knights beat the Hawks was last weekend, when they clinched the Patriot League Tournament top seed.

"In order for us to beat Army we have to execute everything we are working on in practice this week," junior setter Brittany Dickinson said. "We have scouted them well and are focusing on how we are going to defend against their offense. We've seen everything they can throw at us through the last two matches with them and film and we really feel prepared. It is going to be good matchup."

The Hawks clinched their spot in the tournament last Friday after beating Holy Cross. The team fell behind early in the first set but fought back hard to get the come-from-behind win in the first set with a score of 25-22.

Holy Cross could not go away easily though. The Crusaders won the second set to even up the match at 1-1 with a score of 25-19.

The Hawks finally put the Crusaders away in the third and final set of the match, beating the Crusaders 25-17 to clinch Lehigh's first Patriot League tournament berth in six years.

"As for our success, we have remained successful throughout the season due to our cohesiveness," Dickinson said. "We had a bit of a lull, but it was turned around and has been on the up and up ever since. We are at our peak now and are just ready to play. Throughout the season we have remained loyal to our goals and values as a team."

The three other teams in the tournament, Colgate, Army and American, have seen success during the season and throughout history in the Patriot League tournament.

Army is in its 11th consecutive Patriot League Tournament, but this is the first time the Black Knights have hosted since 1994, when they won the tournament. They also have made the tournament 17 times, including this appearance.

This is the Hawks' 15th Patriot League tournament appearance and this is the first appearance since 2003, after making it 14 consecutive times from 1990-2003.

The Colgate Raiders have made the tournament 14 times.

American University has had tremendous success in the Patriot League Tournament. The Eagles joined the Patriot League in 2001 and have dominated since they joined. The Eagles have won the last eight Patriot League Tournament titles, making them a favorite to win it all again.

The game will start on Saturday at 4 p.m. at Gillis Field House in West Point, N.Y.