9/10/2004 - Women's Volleyball
Mids Hold Off Bulldogs in Volleyball Tournament Opener
ANNAPOLIS, Md. -- The Navy volleyball team improved to 6-0 on the season with a hard-fought four-game victory over The Citadel, Friday night in Macdonough Hall on the opening day of the Armed Forces Tournament. The Midshipmen defeated the Bulldogs (2-4), 25-30, 30-25, 30-21, 30-21.
Navy will play host to Air Force Saturday night at 7 p.m. in the finale of the tournament. The Falcons (2-3) were a five-game victory over Army Friday afternoon. The Black Knights (1-4) and the Bulldogs will square off Saturday at 4 p.m. prior to the Navy-Air Force match.
Both matches are free to the public and the players are inviting attending fans to make a donation to a scholarship fund benefiting children who lost a relative in the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks on America. Players from each of the teams have completed fund raising on their own prior to this weekend and will be making a donation of their own, as well.
"It was a challenging match tonight for us," said Navy head coach Mike Schwob. "The Citadel played great. Every time I thought we had put a ball down they came up with not just an amazing dig, but were able to get a good swing off of it, as well. They are one of the scrappiest teams I have seen while coaching at Navy."
Game one saw the Mids pull away slightly with a 15-11 lead, but the Bulldogs quickly tied the game at 16-16 and eventually took a slim 25-23 advantage of their own. Navy tied the score on two quick points, but The Citadel closed the game on a 5-0 run to claim the opening game of the match.
The second game was similar to the first in that Navy held a 17-11 lead only to see the Bulldogs tie the score at 17-17 and eventually take a 23-19 advantage. After a Navy sideout to make the score 23-20, Ashley Van Hartesvelt (Sr., Breckenridge, Colo.) stepped to the service line and promptly served nine-straight points to give Navy a 30-23 lead and even the match at one game apiece.
The Bulldogs took a slim 13-9 lead early in game three, but Navy tied the score at 14-14 and then the teams played sideout volleyball with neither holding more than a one-point lead until Navy took a 21-19 lead, which it then stretched to a 26-19 advantage. After the teams were tied in game four at 8-8, Navy broke open the game with an 11-4 run to take a 19-12 lead on its way to closing out the match.
Van Hartesvelt led all players with 26 kills and 11 digs, her third-straight match with 24 or more kills and her third match on the season with a double-double, while hitting .512 and adding four service aces. Ashley Musser (Jr., Industry, Pa.) set the Mids to a .276 hitting percentage while adding 10 kills of her own.
"Once again, we dug down deep when we needed it," said Schwob. "While we were not as sharp as we needed to be in the opening game, we raised our level of play starting in game two and found a way to score points.:
