10/27/2004 - Women's Volleyball
Mids Set to Make Final Road Trip of the Season
ANNAPOLIS, Md. -- The Navy volleyball team will take to the road for the fourth-consecutive weekend when the Mids close their road schedule with matches Friday at Army and Saturday at Holy Cross. Navy enters the weekend in fourth place in the Patriot League with a 4-4 record, one match behind third-place Bucknell and one ahead of fifth-place Holy Cross and Lafayette.
After this weekend's matches the Mids will begin a season-ending five-match homestand Nov. 5 against Colgate and the following night against Bucknell.
Navy dropped a four-game match to Army in the first meeting of the season between the two service academies, 25-30, 30-28, 30-19, 30-17, Oct. 1 in Macdonough Hall. The Mids hit .256 and held the Black Knights to a .030 attack percentage in the opening game of the match, but 10 service errors by Navy in game two cost the Mids as Army narrowly won the second game. The Black Knights continued their momentum by posting wins in games three and four to take the match. Serving was one of the key factors in the contest as Army totaled 12 aces to seven service errors, while Navy tallied only four aces and 18 service errors.
Team captain Katey Geary (Sr., San Jose, Calif.) led Navy with 15 kills, one ahead of Beth McArthur (So., Roseville, Minn.), while McArthur led the Navy defense with 14 digs. Army was led offensively by 17 kills from Caitlin Machon, with Eileen Cassidy hauling in a team-high 13 digs.
"Army took advantage of our mistakes in our first meeting and never let us back in the match," said Navy head coach Mike Schwob. "That's why they are 7-1 and battling to win the league title this year. We have to keep the pressure on and force them into mistakes Friday, as well as play a solid game on our side of the net."
The Mids came away with a hard-fought four-game victory over the Crusaders in the first meeting of the season, Oct. 2 in Macdonough Hall. Navy narrowly edged Holy Cross, 33-31, 30-25, 24-30, 30-23. Statistically the two teams played to a near tie in every area except hitting percentage. The Mids knocked down 70 kills and totaled a .220 hitting percentage,while the Crusaders tallied 46 kills and a .166 attack percentage.
Diane Sheldon's (Fr., Colorado Springs, Colo.) career-high 21 kills and Ashley Van Hartesvelt's (Sr., Breckenridge, Colo.) 20 kills and .317 hitting percentage paced the Navy offensive attack in the match, while McArthur led the Navy defense with 15 digs and three blocks. Caitlin Agostinacchio totaled a team-high 18 kills for Holy Cross, with Valerie Mora snaring a match-high 18 digs.
"Saturday's match is huge for the playoff outlook for both teams," said Schwob. "After starting 0-3 in the league, Holy Cross is playing its best volleyball of the year. They beat us last year at their place and we had to work our tails off to beat them earlier this season. Add in the fact that Saturday is their senior night and we will be up against a very confident and excited team. It is always a slugfest when we face them and Saturday will be no exception."
