Oct. 24, 2006
Final Stats
Complete Box Score in PDF Format
BALTIMORE, Md. -- Jessie Sims (So., Etowah, N.C.) and Rachel Dougherty (Jr., Derwood, Md.) combined for five kills in the final game as the Navy volleyball team rallied to post a five-game victory over Coppin State Tuesday night in Baltimore. The Midshipmen (11-14) rallied after dropping games one and three to record the 27-30, 30-13, 23-30, 30-22, 15-11 victory over the Eagles (6-19).
"We showed a lot of heart tonight," said Navy head coach Mike Schwob. "After losing the first game we fought back with a strong performance in game two. We started poorly in game three, but found our rhythm late and carried that over into game four. After trailing in game five, we made some big plays down the stretch and were able to close out the win."
Navy took an 8-6 advantage in game five on a service ace from Nikki England (Jr., Colorado Springs, Colo.), but the Eagles quickly scored three-straight points to take a 9-8 lead. After the teams traded sideout, the score became tied for the sixth time in the game on a ball handling error by Coppin State. Dougherty proceeded to knock down a kill to give Navy an 11-10 lead, then Navy libero Meredith Biri (Fr., San Antonio, Texas) recorded a kill to give the Mids a 12-10 advantage.
The Navy lead quickly grew to three points on a kill from Sims before a kill by Coppin State's Brittany Arvin made the score 13-11. A Dougherty kill on the ensuing play brought the Mids to match point, which they converted on an attack error from Arvin.
Navy held a .300 to .143 advantage in hitting percentage in the final game, as well as a .236 to .122 advantage over the course of the match. The Eagles grabbed 73 digs to Navy's 64 on the night, while the Mids finished with 13 blocks to seven for Coppin State.
Sims tallied 15 kills and 19 digs to record her 13th double-double of the year, while Dougherty posted 14 kills and five blocks. Also sparking the Navy offense was Alexa Gibbs (So., Springfield, Ill.) who finished with 13 kills, a .355 attack percentage and three service aces, while Biri hauled in a career-best 17 digs for the Navy defense.
Arvin's 20 kills led all players, as did the 21 digs recorded by Coppin State's Andrea McGant.
The Mids will take to the road this weekend for their final road matches of the Patriot League season. The road swing begins Friday at Holy Cross and ends Sunday at Army. The latter match against the Black Knights will start at 5:30 p.m. and will air live on ESPNU.
