Sept. 24, 2005
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ANNAPOLIS, Md. - Bucknell hit .471 and held Navy to a .095 attack percentage in the fifth game to hold off the Midshipmen, 30-25, 29-31, 30-22, 28-30, 15-10, Saturday night in Macdonough Hall. Both teams saw their Patriot League records move to 1-1 with the decision.
"We had an unacceptable number of errors tonight," said Navy head coach Mike Schwob. "We gave them nearly a game and a half worth of points just from our miscues. We have to be more disciplined and show more mental toughness than we did tonight. Every night in the Patriot League is going to be a close match and we have to be prepared to fight through any mental and physical fatigue we may have."
The Midshipmen committed a total of 42 errors in the match -- 18 service errors, 14 receiving errors, two blocking errors and eight ball-handling errors -- while the Bison totaled only 20 such errors.
Bucknell jumped out to an early lead of 5-2 in the decisive fifth game, but the Mids quickly tied the game at 6-6. Bucknell would score back-to-back points to take an 8-6 lead as the teams changed sides then, following a Navy point, recorded back-to-back points again to take a 10-7 advantage. Navy would close to within 11-9, but the Bison ended the game by scoring four of the final five points to win the game and the match.
Navy was playing from behind in nearly every game and ironically ended up winning the two games in which they had the deepest deficits to climb out. Bucknell scored 10 of the first 11 points in game two before Navy tied the score at 22-22. The Bison would quickly score three-straight points and take a 25-22 lead and would eventually reach game point at 29-28. A Bison service error tied the game at 29-29, then a kill from Beth McArthur (Jr., Roseville, Minn.) and a block from McArthur and Jessie Sims (Fr., Etowah, N.C.) gave Navy a 31-29 victory.
Bucknell would start game four by taking a 9-3 lead, but a 6-1 run later in the game gave Navy a 20-18 advantage. The game would be tied several more times down the stretch, including at 27-27. At that point, kills by Megan Boyd (Jr., Richmond, Va.) and Ashley Musser (Sr., Industry, Pa.) gave Navy a 29-27 lead, but a kill from Jenna Henderson cut Navy's lead in half. Boyd would knock down another kill to give Navy a 30-28 win and force the fifth game.
"For as many errors as we had, we fought hard and gave ourselves opportunities to win the match," said Schwob.
McArthur led Navy with 17 kills while also tallying 12 digs and four blocks, with Boyd totaling a double-double with 12 kills and a career-high 10 blocks.
Navy will play a trio of home league matches next week, starting Tuesday night against American. That match begins at 7 p.m. in Macdonough Hall.
