11/13/2004 - Women's Volleyball
Volleyball Team Secures Playoff Berth
ANNAPOLIS, Md. -- A four-game victory on Senior Night helped close one of the most successful regular seasons in several years for the Navy volleyball team, Saturday night at Macdonough Hall. Moments before Navy defeated Lehigh, 30-27, 30-26, 26-30, 31-29, the Mids learned they had clinched the program's first berth in the Patriot League Tournament in five years. Navy then went out and picked up its fifth-straight win, the team's 21st victory of the season -- the most since tallying 21 wins in 1999 -- and its eighth victory of the league campaign.
Navy tied Bucknell for third place in the Patriot League with an 8-6 record, Navy's highest placing since tying for the league title five years ago, but due to tiebreakers the Mids will claim the No. 4 seed in the postseason. Navy will face top-seed and tournament-host American Friday in Washington, D.C., while the Bison will take on No. 2 seed Army in the other semifinal.
"First, on tonight's match, all the credit in the world needs to go to the Lehigh players and coaches," said Navy head coach Mike Schwob. "The effort and heart and passion they displayed made it look as if they were the ones still in search of the playoff berth.
"As for making the tournament, I am very happy for all of the players who have put so much dedication into this season, especially our talented senior class. They have been great leaders for this program and are the reasons we closed our league season with four-straight wins."
Navy struggled to find a rhythm throughout the match. Games one and two went right down to the wire, with Navy going on late runs in each game to secure the victories. In game three, the Mids held a 25-21 lead when the Mountain Hawks scored eight-straight points to take a 29-25 lead before forcing a fourth game.
In game four, Lehigh held a 29-26 advantage before Navy closed with five-straight points to win the game. After a Navy sideout to make the score 29-27, the Mids scored another point of off Ashley Musser's (Jr., Industry, Pa.) tough serve to draw the Mids to within 29-28. Beth McArthur (So., Roseville, Minn.) recorded a solo block to tie the score, McArthur then knocked down a kill off of an overpass of Musser's jump serve, then Musser ended the match with her sixth service ace of the night.
"While we did struggle throughout the match, overcoming four chances to be forced into a fifth game says a lot about our team and is a great way to walk off the floor and into the postseason," said Schwob.
Lehigh outhit Navy in the match, .297-.247, thanks to 12 team blocks as compared to six for Navy. The Mids did hold a 58-43 advantage on digs, a 68-55 lead on kills and recorded 12 aces, four more than Lehigh produced.
Senior Ashley Van Hartesvelt (Breckenridge, Colo.) led all players with 27 kills and 18 digs, classmate Amanda McHenry (Cary, N.C.) totaled 12 kills and a .435 hitting percentage, and senior team captain Katey Geary (San Jose, Calif.) finished with five kills and eight digs.
A schedule for the Patriot League Tournament has not been announced, yet.
