Nov. 15, 2008

Final Stats

Box Score in PDF Format

WORCESTER, Mass. -- The 2008 Navy volleyball season came to a close Saturday night when the Midshipmen outlasted Holy Cross in a tough four-set contest played in Worcester, Mass. The Midshipmen held off the Crusaders by scores of 25-23, 20-25, 25-21, 27-25 in a match that featured 25 ties and 10 lead changes.

"I was very happy we were able to end the season, and the careers of our seniors, on a positive note," said Navy head coach Mike Schwob. "We are obviously disappointed that we didn't advance to the playoffs, but I think we learned a lot this year, both on and off the court, and I feel those lessons will carry over into next season."

Holy Cross (1-23, 0-14 Patriot League) held the largest lead during the early part of the opening set at 14-10, but that was immediately followed by four consecutive points from Navy (17-13, 5-9) to tie the score. After the Crusaders scored back-to-back points to take a 16-14 lead, the Mids went on another 4-0 run to take an 18-16 advantage. Navy slowly increased its lead to as many as four points at 23-19, then soon took a 24-22 lead on a kill from Krista Eschelman (Jr., Germantown, Md.). Holy Cross staved off one set point for the Mids on a kill from Libby Malloy, but Aubrey Manes (Jr., Pratt, Kan.) posted a kill of her own to end the next point and award the set to the Mids.

Navy again overcame a four-point deficit during the second set. Holy Cross took a 17-13 lead only to see Navy score six of the next seven points to jump in front by the score of 19-18 However, the Crusaders ran off the next five points to take a 23-19 lead over the Mids then, after a kill from Navy's Abbie Merkl (Jr., Upper Marlboro, Md.), tallied back-to-back points to even the match at one set apiece.

After the Mids scored seven of the opening 10 points of the third set, the Crusaders quickly chipped away at the deficit and tied the score at 10-10. The score was soon tied at 15-15 until Navy built a small cushion for itself with a quick 3-0 run. Navy held a two or three-point margin until the score reached 21-18, then a kill by Merkl keyed another 3-0 run for the Mids that made the score 24-18. Finally, on Navy's fifth set point, Jessie Sims (Sr., Etowah, N.C.) tallied a kill to end the set.

The opening three sets featured the score being tied 16 times and six lead changes; the fourth set alone would include nine ties and four lead changes, all of which came during the second half of the set.

Navy scored the opening three points of the fourth set and maintained the lead until Holy Cross tied the score for the first time at 12-12. That was immediately followed by Kathleen Colpoys recording a block to give the Crusaders their first lead of the set. The Mids answered with four consecutive points to take a 16-13 lead, an advantage that was short lived as Holy Cross was able to knot the score at 19-19. Neither team would hold more than a one-point lead over the remainder of the set.

After a kill by Eschelman gave the Mids a 23-22 lead, the Crusaders scored back-to-back points on kills from Libby Malloy to reach set point at 24-23. Alexa Gibbs (Sr., Springfield, Ill.) posted a kill to tie the score at 24-24, then an attack error by Malloy took the Mids to match point at 25-24. Navy's first opportunity to close out the match ended when Gibbs recorded an attack error, then the Mids had their second chance after Meghan Carpenter (Fr., Frederick, Md.) tallied a block of Samantha Surface. An attack error by Malloy ended the nearly two-hour match.

"This was a typical Navy-Holy Cross match," said Schwob. "A lot of defense with long rallies is what we expect when we play them, and that was definitely what we saw tonight.

"I am very proud of how we approached the match today. We weren't happy with how we played Friday at Army, but instead of letting that loss linger we came ready to play today. Had we not done that, we would have lost pretty quickly. I think that says a lot about this team and especially our senior class."

The defenses for the two teams dominated the match. Navy held a slight advantage in hitting percentage of .191-.158, the Crusaders hauled in 74 digs to 68 for the Mids, and Navy recorded 9.0 team blocks to 6.0 for Holy Cross. The Crusaders hit below .200 in each of the four sets, while Navy tallied 13 or fewer kills in three out of the four sets.

Gibbs and Liz Auger led their respective offenses with 14 kills apiece, while both teams had four players reach double figures in digs. Molly Anderson from Holy Cross paced all players in the match with 24 digs, with Manes leading Navy with a career-high 16 digs.

Closing out their careers tonight were Navy seniors, Gibbs, Sims and Marissa Watson (Sr., Redondo Beach, Calif.). In addition to her 14 kills, Gibbs also hit .312 and dropped in three aces. Sims contributed 10 kills and eight digs, while Watson dished out 29 assists and hauled in 11 digs.

The triumvirate of players, who combined to play in 311 career matches and 1,011 career sets, each leaves with their names placed throughout the Navy record book. Gibbs tallied 818 kills, 100 service aces, 205 blocks and hit .296 -- the fourth-highest attack percentage in school history -- during her career, Sims ranks fifth at Navy with 1,246 career kills and is the Navy record holder with 1,424 career digs, and Watson ranks fifth at Navy with both 2,355 career assists and an 8.63 career assists-per-set average.