Sept. 11, 2007

Final Stats

Complete Box Score in PDF Format

LORETTO, Pa. - Rachel Dougherty (Sr., Derwood, Md.) and Jessie Sims (Jr., Etowah, N.C.) both recorded 13 kills and hit over .400 to help lead the Navy volleyball team to a three-game victory over Saint Francis (Pa.) Tuesday night in Loretto, Pa. The Mids improved to 7-2 on the season with the 30-25, 30-19, 30-23 victory over the Red Flash.

"We accomplished many of the things we had hoped to prior to the match," said Navy head coach Mike Schwob. "At the top of the list was limiting our unforced errors. With only three receiving errors, no blocking errors and three ball-handling errors, we played a much cleaner match than we have recently."

Game one was close, but the Mids broke open a 22-20 lead with a 5-1 run. Dougherty recorded a block to start the run, then Sims followed with a kill. After a sideout for the Red Flash, Abbie Merkl (So., Upper Marlboro, Md.) tallied kills on two of the next three plays, with an attack error for Saint Francis coming in between her kills, to give the Mids a 27-21 lead.

Navy jumped out on the now 1-7 Red Flash at the start of game two, quickly building a 14-4 advantage and holding a double-digit lead for most of the remainder of the game.

Game three was very similar to game one in that the Mids were not able to separate themselves from the Red Flash until late in the game. The difference, however, was that while offense was the key to its run at the end of the opening game, the Navy defense was the spark in game three.

Navy held a 22-21 lead when Sims knocked down a kill to open a 7-0 Navy run. Three of the remaining six points came on Saint Francis attack errors, while a Merkl service ace and a pair of Alexa Gibbs (Jr., Springfield, Ill.) rounded out the Navy scoring.

Strong serving also helped Navy's offense in the match. The Mids dropped in eight service aces while committing an acceptable total of 13 service errors. Saint Francis, meanwhile recorded three aces and seven service errors. Additionally, Navy outhit Saint Francis .298-.076 in the match, while recording eight blocks to just two for the Red Flash.

While Dougherty and Sims paced the Navy offense, Marissa Watson (Jr., Redondo Beach, Calif.) grabbed 11 digs, Merkl and Aimee' Burns (Sr., Dallas, Texas) both hauled in 10 digs and Krista Eschelman (So., Germantown, Md.) tallied four blocks.

The Mids will next play a pair of matches both Friday and Saturday at the American Volleyball Tournament in Washington, D.C.