10/1/2004 - Women's Volleyball
Army Defeats Navy in Volleyball Star Match
Team captain Katey Geary knocked down a career-high 15 kills against Army |
ANNAPOLIS, Md. -- Fifth-year senior Caitlin Machon tallied 14 of her match-high 17 kills in the final two games as Army rallied to defeat Navy in four games, Friday night at Macdonough Hall. The Black Knights (5-6, 2-0 Patriot League) defeated the Midshipmen (10-4, 0-2) 25-30, 30-28, 30-19, 30-17 to win the annual Star Match between the teams for the second-straight year.
"Tonight was disappointing and frustrating in that we kept giving away points," said Navy head coach Mike Schwob. "We had too many mental and physical breakdowns. We had our chances to take control of the match at several times, but didn't execute properly."
The Mids never trailed in posting a game one victory, but Navy committed nine service errors in dropping the second game of the match by just two points. Machon started to warm up in game three, knocking down 10 kills and committing only two errors on 16 swings. The Black Knights broke the game open early, sprinting away from the Mids with a 10-1 run to take an 18-7 advantage. Navy's offense struggled in what would prove to be the final game of the match, totaling 10 kills and nine attack errors on 44 attempts (.023), while the Navy defense allowed the Black Knights to total 10 kills and only two errors on 31 attempts (.258).
Navy outhit Army on the night, .160-.136, but finished with 30 more swings and only seven more kills than the Black Knights did. Serving also let the Mids down as Navy totaled 18 service errors and only four aces to seven service errors and 12 aces for Army.
Machon hit only .178 in the match, but in games three and four combined for 14 kills and three errors on 27 attempts for a .407 attack percentage. She also added 12 digs, one shy of tying Eileen Cassidy for team-high honors.
Navy was led by team captain Katey Geary's (Sr., San Jose, Calif.) 15 kills. Beth McArthur (So., Roseville, Minn.) added 14 kills and 14 digs, but along with Ashley Van Hartesvelt (Sr., Breckenridge, Colo.) and Ashley Musser (Jr., Industry, Pa.) committed five service errors on the night. McArthur hit .440 in the match and Geary hit .333, but they were the only Mids to total a hitting percentage over .100. The Black Knights were able to control Navy's leading attacker, Van Hartesvelt, limiting her to eight kills and forcing eight atack errors.
"Beating Army was one of our goals this season," said Schwob. "It is disappointing we didn't achieve that, but regardless of how tonight's match ended we were going to have to move on to our next goal and that is making the Patriot League playoffs. That is attainable and we need to regain our focus and start working towards that goal Saturday night."
The Midshipmen will play host to Holy Cross Saturday night at 7 p.m. in Macdonough Hall.
