Sept. 23, 2005
Final Stats
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ANNAPOLIS, Md. - Ashley Musser (Sr., Industry, Pa.) totaled 18 kills, 29 assists and four aces to help lead the Navy volleyball team to a four-game victory over Colgate, Friday night in front of an overflow crowd in Macdonough Hall in the Patriot League opener for both schools. The Midshipmen picked up their fourth-straight win with the 30-27, 30-23, 29-31, 30-20 victory over the Raiders.
"The crowd had a huge impact on how we played tonight," said Navy head coach Mike Schwob. "They picked us up and gave us a lot of energy throughout the match at times when we really needed it.
"As for the match itself, we had good balance again on both offense and defense and served very well."
After holding a slim lead through most of the opening game, Navy found itself trailing 25-23 late in the game. With the score tied at 27-27, Navy ran off three-straight points on kills from Musser, Jessie Sims (Fr., Etowah, N.C.) and Rachel Dougherty (So., Derwood, Md.) to close out the game.
Navy broke open game two early, running off six-straight points to take a 14-6 advantage and then holding a lead of at least four points over the remainder of the game.
Colgate broke out of the game strong in game three, quickly taking a 10-5 lead. Navy would eventually catch the Raiders at 20-20, then the game would be tied seven more times before it ended. Navy took a 29-28 lead and reached game point following a kill from Beth McArthur (Jr., Roseville, Minn.), but Colgate's Erin Kanetzke and Sheila Giovannini teamed for a block on an attempt by Dougherty to tie the game again. Dougherty would commit another hitting error and the ensuing ace by Giovannini gave the Raiders the game three victory.
The early stages of game four saw neither team able to take an advantage until the Mids broke open a 9-9 game with four-straight points. After the Raiders closed to 13-12, Navy slowly started to pull away with a 5-1 run to take an 18-13 lead, then used a later 6-0 run to separate enough to play sideout volleyball for the victory.
"It was what you would expect from a Patriot League match," said Schwob. "Both teams playing hard for over two hours and making the other team work for every single point."
Navy outhit the Raiders on the night, .239-.201, and totaled 11 service aces and seven team blocks to five aces and four blocks for Colgate.
Musser was one of three Mids to tally double-digit kills, with an additional three players recording at least eight kills. Sims finished second to Musser with 13 kills and ended the night with a Navy-high 18 digs and five blocks. In addition, Andrea Wernecke (Sr., Gaithersburg, Md.) matched Musser with four service aces.
"We had good stretches where we scored points in a number of ways, whether it was with our offense, with our defense or with our serve," said Schwob.
Navy will continue its homestand Saturday night with a 7 p.m. match against Bucknell.
