Sept. 18, 2007
Complete Box Score in PDF Format
WASHINGTON, D.C. - Navy's offense totaled a .389 attack percentage in posting a 30-18, 30-25, 30-25 victory over Howard Tuesday night at Burr Gym in Washington, D.C. The victory, Navy's seventh in a three-game sweep this year, improves its record to 10-4 on the season.
"We are happy to record the win, in three games, with everyone who played contributing," said Navy head coach Mike Schwob. "Our starters played well and our bench continued that high-level of play when they entered the match."
The Mids hit a sizzling .423 in the opening game, while holding Howard (0-12) to a .120 percentage. Navy trailed 12-11 in the first game before going on a 14-2 run to break the game open.
Navy was not able to separate itself from Howard until late in game two. Navy held a 24-23 lead when Lindi Conner (Sr., Kingman, Kan.) knocked down a kill to return the serve to the Mids with a two-point advantage. Abbie Merkl (So., Upper Marlboro, Md.) and Alexa Gibbs (Jr., Springfield, Ill.) then combined on a block to give Navy a three-point cushion. After the lead was reduced to two points on a Navy attack error, Howard's Elyssa Lee committed back-to-back attack errors to give the Mids a 29-24 lead.
The Mids held just a 21-20 lead in game three when a Howard service error started a 4-0 Navy run. Following the error, Conner tallied another kill, Aubrey Manes (So., Pratt, Kan.) recorded a kill and Howard's Lee had another hitting error to give the Mids a 25-20 lead. From there, the teams split the next 10 points to end the match.
While Navy's offense totaled a .389 hitting percentage, its defense held Howard to a .239 percentage for the night. The Lady Bison outblocked Navy 7-2, but the Mids hauled in 36 digs on the night while the Howard grabbed 29.
Three players reached double figures in kills for the Mids, with Rachel Dougherty's 13 pacing the offense. Joining her in double digits was Jessie Sims (Jr., Etowah, N.C.) with 11 kills and Gibbs with 10. The trio combined for just eight attack errors on 61 swings in the match. Individually, Sims posted a .500 hitting percentage, Dougherty hit .400 and Gibbs notched a .389 percentage.
Navy's starting setter, Marissa Watson (Jr., Redondo Beach, Calif.) tallied 23 assists during games one and two and Jenny Rudewicz (Fr., Winter Garden, Fla.) added 14 assists in game three.
Defensively for Navy, Dougherty and Meredith Biri (So., San Antonio, Texas) both hauled in seven digs.
Navy will now open its Patriot League season this weekend with matches Saturday at Holy Cross and Sunday at Army. The latter match will serve as the Star Match between the two teams and will be televised live on ESPNU starting at 3 p.m.
