Aug. 24, 2007
Box Score
SPARTANBURG, S.C. - The Navy volleyball team opened its 2007 season by posting a four-game victory over USC-Upstate Friday night at Hodge Gym in Spartanburg, S.C. The Midshipmen (1-0) tallied a 30-18, 30-19, 22-30, 30-25 win over the Spartans (1-1) on the opening day of the USC-Upstate Volleyball Tournament.
"It is always nice to open the season with a victory," said Navy head coach Mike Schwob. "We played very well over the first two games, then responded to the challenges Upstate presented us over the last two games."
Navy opened up big leads early in both of the opening two games, jumping out to advantages of 20-7 in game one and 18-7 in game two. Navy's offense was hitting at a .417 attack percentage after the second game, while its defense held the Spartans to a .058 hitting percentage.
The Spartans quickly took advantage of some Navy miscues early in game three and took an 8-3 lead. The Mids would close to within one point at 15-14 and 16-15, but Upstate ran off nine of the next 12 points to take a 25-18 lead.
Game four was tight from the very beginning, with neither team able to seize control. When Upstate tied the score at 15-15, it marked the 10th tie of the game. Navy's Rachel Dougherty (Sr., Derwood, Md.) tallied a kill and a solo block to give the Mids a 17-15 lead then, after Upstate recorded a block of Navy's Nikki England (Sr., Colorado Springs, Colo.) attack to pull to within one point, Dougherty promptly knocked down another kill to give the serve back to Navy. Dougherty herself proceeded to step to the service line and the Mids immediately scored a point on a ball-handling error by a Spartan, then Dougherty dropped in an ace to increase the Navy lead to 20-16.
Upstate would close to within one point at 22-21, 23-22 and 24-23, but Navy rolled off the next four points to take a 28-23 lead. Lindi Conner (Sr., Kingman, Kan.) started the run with a kill, then teamed with England for a block for Navy's second point of the run. Jessie Sims (Jr., Etowah, N.C.) dropped in her fourth service ace of the night for Navy's 27th point, then Dougherty knocked down her match-high 17th kill to give the Mids the five-point cushion.
From there, the teams traded a pair of sideouts to allow Navy to close out the match.
Navy setter Marissa Watson (Jr., Redondo Beach, Calif.) had a strong all-around night, tallying 52 assists, 11 digs, six kills and a pair of blocks in the match. Sims posted 11 kills and 16 digs to go along with her four aces, while Alexa Gibbs (Jr., Springfield, Ill.) contributed 12 kills, a .500 attack percentage and four blocks.
Navy as a team tallied 12 service aces in the match, while allowing just three to the Spartans, while outhitting the host school .260-.154 for the evening.
The Mids will close play in the two-day tournament Saturday with matches at 1 p.m. vs. Wofford and 3:30 p.m. against Savannah State.
