Volleyball Drops Season Opener at Lehigh, 3-0

Friday, August 28

Bethlehem, PA

11 AM

Gardner-Webb University

0-1,0-0Big South

Lehigh

1-0,0-0Patriot

Team	1	2	3	Final F
Gardner-Webb	18	13	14	0
Lehigh	25	25	25	3

August 28, 2026 | Volleyball

Box Score

By: Michael Covil, Assistant Director of Strategic Communication

BETHLEHEM, PA - The Gardner-Webb volleyball team finally returned to the court on Friday morning, but suffered a 3-0 loss at Lehigh in its season opener, part of the 2026 Steel Classic

The Dawgs got off to a slow start on Friday morning and never really recovered in a 3-0 defeat to the side from the Patriot League. GWU lost the first set 25-18, the second 25-13, and the third 25-14.

Gardner-Webb however did get contributions up and down the lineup, with each of the Runnin' Bulldogs first six kills coming from six different players, including senior outside hitter Nicole Osborne who notched the first to open the scoring.

In all, 11 different Gardner-Webb players recorded at least one kill in the match. Team leaders for the morning included sophomore right side Sarina Galyean with a team-high nine kills, Osborne with five, and redshirt sophomore right Alexis Maesch with another three. Galyean also finished the game with an outstanding .563 hitting percentage, going 9-for-16.

Defensively, the Dawgs were led by yet another returning piece from last year's team, with sophomore libero Ivey Lucas leading the way with four digs. Lucas also posted a noteworthy season debut on the attack for GWU as well, recording a team-best 10 assists.

UP NEXT
The Steel Classic continues on Saturday, August 29th as Gardner-Webb takes the court for a doubleheader against Morgan State (10 am) and Cleveland State (12 pm)