11/4/2004 - Women's Volleyball
Volleyball Team Ready for Playoff Run

ANNAPOLIS, Md. -- After concluding a string of seven-straight Patriot League matches on the road, the Navy volleyball team will have the luxury of playing the remainder of its schedule at home, starting this weekend with a pair of matches in Macdonough Hall. The Midshipmen will play host to Colgate Friday and Bucknell Saturday, with both matches slated to begin at 7 p.m.

With just four Patriot League matches left in the season, Navy enters the week in a three-way tie for fourth place and the final berth in the league playoffs. The Mids, Holy Cross and Lafayette all have posted 4-6 records during the league season. Navy split the season series with the Crusaders and defeated the Leopards in their lone previous meeting. Lafayette plays host to Holy Cross Friday night, while the Mids and Leopards will meet Nov. 12 in Annapolis.

"It will be nice to close the season at home, but we cannot become too comfortable with that luxury," said Navy head coach Mike Schwob. "We can't win four matches at once, and we can't concern ourselves with what any other team is doing or could do. When we have been successful this season it has been because we focused on our side of the net and on one match at a time."

Bucknell defeated Navy in the first meeting of the season, winning in four games, 30-20, 30-26, 21-30, 30-23, Oct. 8 in Lewisburg, Pa. The Bison tallied a .193 hitting percentage to Navy's .166 and totaled 62 digs to 48 for the Mids. Navy was able to have an effective blocking game, though, finishing the night with 15 blocks to 10 for Bucknell.

Individually, Ashley Van Hartesvelt (Sr., Breckenridge, Colo.) led all players with 19 kills and six blocks, while Beth McArthur (So., Roseville, Minn.) totaled a .304 hitting percentage with nine kills and two errors on 23 attempts. Bucknell had a very balanced offensive attack in the match, with six players knocking down at least six kills. Jackie Leahy led the squad with 14 kills, two more than Courtney Clark who also finished with a .409 attack percentage.

One day after the loss to the Bison, Navy bounced back and was able to post a sweep of Colgate in Hamilton, N.Y., defeating the Raiders by scores of 30-22, 30-25, 31-29. Navy totaled a .286 hitting percentage and limited Colgate to a .087 percentage. Six Mids tallied at least six kills in the three-game match, with Van Hartesvelt's 14 and McArthur's 10 leading the way. McArthur also hauled in a Navy-high 14 digs, while Amanda McHenry (Sr., Cary, N.C.) added six blocks. Colgate was led offensively by Laurel Oliver's 15 kills.

"In our previous matches against Colgate and Bucknell, the team that came out strong at the start of the match and dictated play emerged as the winner," said Schwob. "We came out flat against Bucknell, allowed them to control the match and lost. It was a reversal the next night against Colgate where we really came out firing on all cylinders and ended up with the win.

"Last week at Army and Holy Cross, we did not come out strong or ready to play and it cost us. We cannot allow that to happen this weekend."

Patriot League Standings
1. American 10-0
2. Army 8-2
3. Navy 4-6
Holy Cross 4-6
Lafayette 4-6
7. Colgate 2-8
8. Lehigh 1-9