Nov. 8, 2008
Final Stats
Complete Box Score in PDF Format
BETHLEHEM, Pa. -- A balanced offense with four players totaling at least eight kills helped the Navy volleyball team to a four-set victory over Lehigh, Saturday afternoon at the Leeman-Turner Arena in Bethlehem, Pa. The Midshipmen posted a 25-19, 13-25, 25-23, 25-23 victory over the Mountain Hawks to improve their overall record to 16-12 this season.
"We played well today," said Navy head coach Mike Schwob. "We were frustrated in some things we did Friday (in a 23-25, 25-19, 25-19, 32-30 loss at Lafayette), but we put that match behind us and came out with a solid effort today."
Navy (4-8 Patriot League) led Lehigh (3-9) by the score of 17-13 in the opening set until four-straight points by the Mountain Hawks tied the score at 17-17. The Mids responded with a 5-0 run of their own to take control of the set before posting the 25-19 win.
After Navy took a 2-1 lead at the start of the second set, Lehigh scored 11 of the next 12 points to take a 12-3 advantage and quickly put the set out of reach for the Mids.
Lehigh continued its strong play at the start of the third set by taking a 10-3 lead over Navy. The Mids slowly climbed back into the set and soon tied the score at 16-16. With Lehigh holding a 20-19 lead, Navy's Krista Eschelman (Jr., Germantown, Md.) and Jessie Sims (Sr., Etowah, N.C.) combined for back-to-back blocks of Brittany Reichwein to give the Mids a 21-20 lead. Team captain Marissa Watson (Sr., Redondo Beach, Calif.) promptly dropped in back-to-back service aces to increase the Navy advantage to 23-20. An Eschelman kill soon gave the Mids a 24-22 lead and, after a kill by Lehigh's Brittany Dickinson cut the margin in half, Eschelman recorded another kill to end the third set.
The fourth set was close throughout the frame, with the score being tied a total of 12 times. The last tie in the set was at 21-21, which was broken on a Lehigh service error. The Navy lead was increased then to two points following a blocking error by Lehigh's Emily Flanagan on an attack attempt by Abbie Merkl (Jr., Upper Marlboro, Md.), then an attack error by Dickinson gave Navy a 24-21 lead. Navy saw two match-point opportunities erased on a kill by Reichwein and a block by the duo of Rebecca Siegers and Angelika Kopacz, but Aubrey Manes (Jr., Pratt, Kan.) knocked down a kill on Navy's third chance to win the match to end the 90-minute contest.
"The difference between our match tonight and last night's against Lafayette was that we were able to finish sets," said Schwob. "We had great chances to win points and sets Friday, but couldn't get it done. Things became tight in sets three and four tonight, but we managed to make the plays we needed to win them."
Navy won the match despite recording a lower attack percentage (.248-.215) than Lehigh did in the contest. The Mids did tally 52 kills to 46 for the Mountain Hawks and dropped in eight service aces to just three for Lehigh, though.
Alexa Gibbs (Sr., Springfield, Ill.) led the Navy offense with 14 kills and a .391 attack percentage, with Sims contributing 10 kills and both Manes and Eschelman adding eight kills. Defensively for Navy, Holly Berger hauled in 15 digs while Sims, Gibbs and Eschelman all finished with a pair of blocks.
With 15 kills, Mo Reynolds was the lone Lehigh player to reach double figures in kills, though both Reichwein and Kopacz added nine kills to the squad's offense.
Navy will close its season this coming week with matches Friday at Army (8 p.m., ESPNU) and Saturday at Holy Cross (6 p.m.).
