11/19/2004 - Women's Volleyball
Mids Ready for League Tournament
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Patriot League Tournament Game Notes
Tournament Time
Navy makes its first appearance in the Patriot League Tournament in five seasons this weekend when the Mids face American Friday at 6 p.m. in the first semifinal match in Washington, D.C. Army takes on Bucknell at 8 p.m. in the second semifinal, with the two winners advancing to the championship match Saturday at 7 p.m.
Navy tied Bucknell for third place in the league with an 8-6 record, but the Bison received the No. 3 seed due to winning more games within the league than the Mids did (30-26).
TV Time
Saturday's championship match will be shown on a tape delayed basis on CSTV, Sunday at 4 p.m. EST.
Close Shaves
While this is the first postseason for Navy in five years, the Mids have been very close in two of the last four seasons. In 2001, the Mids finished out of a trip to the playoffs by one victory, then tied Army for fourth place in 2002 but lost out due to tiebreakers.
Strong Start ... Strong Finish
After starting the season with six-straight wins and a 10-1 record, Navy closed the season with five-straight wins, including four-straight league victories.
Challenging Schedule
Navy opened its Patriot League season with three-straight matches at home and posting a 1-2 record. The Mids then took to the road for seven-straight league road matches, compiling a 3-4 mark in the process. Navy then concluded the season with four-straight league matches at home, emerging victorious in each match.
Navy vs. American
Navy dropped both of its matches to American this season, losing in three games Sept. 23 in Macdonough Hall and Oct. 21 at Bender Arena.
The Eagles outhit the Mids in the two matches, .304-.113. Ashley Van Hartesvelt led the Mids with 13 kills in the first match and with 12 in the second.
Navy vs. Army
The Mids also lost both of its matches to Army this year, losing in four games Oct. 1 at Navy in the Star Match and Oct. 29 in three games at Army.
In the opening match, Navy won game one, 30-25, but 10 Navy service errors helped Army to a 30-28 game two win and gave the Black Knights enough momentum to win the second and third games.
Army only totaled four more kills than Navy did in the two matches, but the Black Knights hit at a considerabley high percentage -- .216-.181 -- and recorded 23 aces and 13 service errors to Navy's seven aces and 22 service errors.
Navy vs. Bucknell
The Mids split their two matches with the Bison, with the home team winning each contest.
Van Hartesvelt paced the Mids in both matches against Bucknell, averaging 4.88 kills and 2.00 digs on the season.
Early Tournaments
Navy participated in three tournaments prior to the start of the Patriot League season, winning two of them.
The Mids posted a 4-0 record in winning the North Carolina A&T Lady Aggie Classic over Texas A&M-Corpus Christi, Savannah State, Campbell and the host Lady Aggies, then picked up another tournament title with wins over Fairleigh Dickinson, Rider and La Salle at the Cranberry Classic in New Jersey.
Navy's lone loss in tournament play came when at the Armed Forces Classic in Macdonough Hall. After defeating The Citadel in four games, the Mids lost in four games to Air Force.
Ashley Van Hartesvelt was named to the all-tournament teams at each tournament and Ashley Musser was named to the all-tournament squad at the Lady Aggie Classic.
Armed Forces Classic
Navy played host to Air Force, Army and The Citadel at the Armed Force Classic over the weekend of Sept. 11. In addition to the tournament, the four teams raised funds on their own which were donated to the Families of Freedom Scholarship Fund to benefit those who lost relatives in the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks on America. The four schools combined to raise $3,650.
Charting Van Hartesvelt
Ashley Van Hartesvelt has etched her name into the Navy record book in several categories this season.
* Is the only player in Navy history to lead the Mids in kills in each of her four seasons.
* Ranks second at Navy and sixth in league history with 1,452-career kills.
* Her 4.45 kills-per-game average this year is a Navy record.
* Her 170-career kills ranks second at Navy and seventh in league history.
Dealing Aces
Navy leads not only the Patriot League, but also the NCAA with 2.63 service aces per game. Individually, Ashley Musser ranks sixth nationally at 0.69 per game and Van Hartesvelt stands 20th at 0.57 per game.
Musser's 66 service aces this year is one shy of her own school record.
League Leaders
In addition to leading the league in service aces, Navy also has allowed the lowest hitting percentage by an opponent this year at .212.
Individually,Van Hartesvelt is second in kills per game and fourth in aces, while Musser is third in assists per game.
Records
Navy's eight league victories is tied for the second-most wins by a Navy team -- nine, 1999, eight, 2002 -- and the 21 wins is two shy of Navy's Division I school record of 23 (1992).
Colorado Connection
Navy's "Colorado Connection" of Van Hartesvelt (Breckenridge) and Diane Sheldon (Colorado Springs) have been very effective this season. The two have led Navy in kills a combined 25 matches -- Van Hartesvelt 22; Sheldon, 3. The duo also placed 1-2 in kills in nine matches, including three of the last four.
