Sept. 29, 2006
Complete Box Score in PDF Format
Final Stats
ANNAPOLIS, Md. -- Army's defense held Navy to a .103 attack percentage as the Black Knights posted a 30-18, 32-30, 30-20 victory over the Midshipmen Friday in Alumni Hall. The Black Knights improved to 13-2 on the season, 4-0 in the Patriot League, while the Mids fell to 6-10 overall and 1-2 in league matches.
"We fought hard against a very talented team," said Navy head coach Mike Schwob. "We struggled in stringing together points, and a lot of the credit for that goes to how Army played. We had some success in game two, but just couldn't find a way to close out the game."
Army started fast in game one, quickly jumping out to a 14-5 lead. The Mids rallied and were able to close to within four points at 16-12, but Army answered with a 7-2 run to take a 23-14 advantage. Army posted its best hitting percentage of the match in winning game one, totaling a .310 percentage to Navy's .146.
It was Navy's turn to jump out to an early lead in game two as the Mids scored seven of the game's opening 10 points. After Army tied the game at 13-13, the Mids again held slim leads until the game was tied at 26-26.
Navy held the first opportunity to win the game when a kill from Jessie Sims (So., Etowah, N.C.) gave the Mids a 29-28 lead. A kill from Army's Jamie Cooper tied the score at 29-29, then the Black Knights took a 30-29 lead on a kill from Jamie Clark. The score would be tied again at 30-30 when Navy's Rachel Dougherty (Jr., Derwood, Md.) tallied a kill, but then Dougherty served into the net to give Army its second game point. The Black Knights would convert the opportunity when Cooper knocked down another kill.
Game three was close early on, with Army holding only a 12-11 advantage before breaking open the game with a 9-2 run.
While its defense held Navy to a .103 attack percentage, Army's offense posted a .231 mark in the match. The Black Knights also held a 6-1 advantage in service aces.
Army's Elizabeth Lazzari totaled 17 kills and hit .452, while teammate Briana Stremick posted 11 kills and a .476 attack percentage. Navy's offense was led by Dougherty who knocked down 12 kills and hit .435 on the night.
The match marked the first time the Mids had used Alumni Hall as a venue for a volleyball match.
"On behalf of our program, I do want to thank all of the Mids who showed up tonight," said Schwob. "It was a tremendous atmosphere and we greatly appreciate their support."
Navy will return to its traditional home arena in Macdonough Hall Saturday when the Mids play host to Holy Cross in a 7 p.m. match.
