Oct. 19, 2007

Complete Box Score in PDF Format

ANNAPOLIS, Md. -- Navy's Rachel Dougherty (Sr., Derwood, Md.) tallied two of her career-high 29 kills during a 5-1 Navy run to close out a five-game victory by the Mids over Holy Cross Friday night in Macdonough Hall. The Midshipmen outlasted the Crusaders 31-33, 30-20, 37-35, 28-30, 15-11 in a two-hour, 25-minute match.

"It was a real slugfest out there between the two teams," said Navy head coach Mike Schwob. "Both teams left everything they had on the floor."

Navy (16-8, 5-3 Patriot League) built a 9-5 lead midway through the decisive game five, but, as they had done all night, the Crusaders (3-19, 0-8) rallied and tied the game at 10-10. Following a Navy timeout, Molly Anderson stepped to the service line for the Crusaders and sent the ball into the middle of the net and giving Navy an 11-10 lead and the serve. Dougherty and Krista Eschelman (So., Germantown, Md.) teamed for a block to give the Mids a 12-10 lead, which soon grew to 13-10 on a Dougherty kill.

The Crusaders called timeout, but setter Marissa Watson (Jr., Redondo Beach, Calif.) dropped in an ace to take the Mids to match point. Meagan Merinder knocked down a kill for Holy Cross to make it a three-point game, but Dougherty posted her final kill of the night to end the match.

The score was tied 18 times during the opening game, including at 29-29 after Navy rallied from deficits of 28-25 and 29-27. The Mids were able to fight off a total of four game points before Watson was whistled for a ball-handling error to end the game.

Navy scored the opening four points of the second game, then broke it open when Abbie Merkl (So., Upper Marlboro, Md.) served five-straight points to give the Mids a 17-7 lead.

Game three also was tied 18 times, with the Mids being the team surrendering a 29-27 lead this time. Navy had a chance to close out the game when Meredith Biri's (So., San Antonio, Texas) serve forced an overpass by the Crusaders, but in their haste to play the ball two Mids went up together and were called for a blocking error to make the score 29-28. Holy Cross then served for the game at 30-29, 31-30 and 32-31 before Navy served for the game at 33-32.

Dougherty committed an attack error, but she responded with a kill to give Navy another chance for the game at 34-33. She committed another attack error, but proceeded to knock down another kill to give Navy its third game point at 35-34. Following a kill for Holy Cross to tie the game again, Jessie Sims (Jr., Etowah, N.C.) recorded back-to-back kills to allow Navy to take a two games to one lead.

Navy led through the early parts of game four until Holy Cross tied the game at 17-17. The Crusaders then slowly built leads of 25-21 and 27-22. A kill by Alexa Gibbs (Jr., Springfield, Ill.) started a 5-0 Navy run to tie the game at 27-27, but Holy Cross scored back-to-back points on a kill and a Navy attack error to take a 29-27 lead. Gibbs knocked down another kill to slice the lead in half, but Merinder ended the game with a kill of her own.

Navy totaled a .246 attack percentage and dropped in 12 aces on the night, while limiting Holy Cross to a .189 attack percentage and seven aces. The Mids also held a 74-66 lead in digs.

Dougherty's 29 kills paced all players in the match, while Liz Auger totaled 22 to lead Holy Cross. Sims for Navy and both Anderson and Christine Strawson for Holy Cross hauled in 15 digs in the match.

Navy will play host to Army Saturday night at 7 p.m. in Macdonough Hall. Admission is free.