Nov. 3, 2007

Final Stats

Complete Release in PDF Format

LEWISBURG, Pa. -- The Navy volleyball team rallied from late deficits in all three games to post a 32-30, 31-29, 31-29 victory over Bucknell, Saturday afternoon at Davis Gym in Lewisburg, Pa. The victory, Navy's second three-game sweep of the Bison this year, improves its record to 6-6 in the Patriot League this season while Bucknell fell to 4-8 in league play.

The win also moves the Mids to being on the verge of clinching the program's third Patriot League Tournament appearance in four years. With just two matches remaining in the regular season -- Friday at Lafayette, Saturday at Lehigh -- Navy can qualify for the postseason in a variety of ways. The Mids advance with a victory either night or, should Navy lose both matches, with a loss by the Leopards to American Saturday. Additionally, Navy can advance by just winning one game Friday at Lafayette.

"The atmosphere in the gym was great tonight (attendance of 475), but that made for an extra challenge for us," said Navy head coach Mike Schwob. "To come away with a three-game win, and having to rally late in every game, is a great accomplishment.

"We are excited to be close to making it to the playoffs, but we know we are not there yet so we still have work to do."

Navy trailed by as many as seven points (11-4) early in the opening game, but soon rallied and tied the game at 16-16. The Mids tried to pull away midway through the game by taking leads of 25-22, 28-25 and 29-27, but Bucknell soon tied the game at 29-29. The Bison then took a 30-29 lead and had a swing to win the game, but a ball-handling error on the Bison gave Navy new life and tied the score at 30-30. The Mids scored the next two points on Bucknell attack errors to win the game.

Game two saw Navy open up a sizeable lead before Bucknell rallied to take a late lead of its own. The Mids held advantages of 20-15, 26-23 and 28-25, but once again were caught by the Bison, this time at 28-28. Bucknell took the lead at 29-28 and again had a swing to win the game, but the Mids hauled in the attempt and soon ended the point on a kill from Jessie Sims (Jr., Etowah, N.C.). As in the opening game, back-to-back attack errors by Bucknell ended the game with points for the Mids.

Game three was close throughout until Bucknell jumped in front by the score of 25-21. Navy answered and soon took a 29-26 lead but once again the Bison rallied and tied the game at 29-29. Rachel Dougherty (Sr., Derwood, Md.) tallied a kill to give Navy the opportunity to serve for the match, then Alexa Gibbs (Jr., Springfield, Ill.) stepped to the service line dropped in her third ace of the night to end the contest.

Dougherty knocked down 22 kills in the match -- one shy of tying the Navy record for the most kills during a three-game match -- while totaling a .362 attack percentage. Sims tallied 17 kills and hauled in a Navy-high 16 digs, while Gibbs totaled 11 kills and five blocks to go along with her trio of service aces.

Jenna Henderson's 19 kills paced Bucknell, while teammate Sheena Czipri grabbed a match-high 18 digs.

Navy as a team totaled a .253 attack percentage and seven aces, while Bucknell finished with a .185 attack percentage and four aces. The Mids also held a 8.0-4.0 advantage in team blocks.

The Mids will play their final home match of the season Tuesday night when Navy plays host to UMBC before taking to the road to end the year with its aforementioned matches at Lafayette and Lehigh.