Aug. 29, 2008
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ANNAPOLIS, Md. -- Alexa Gibbs (Sr., Springfield, Ill.) totaled 12 kills and no hitting errors on 18 swings to help the Navy volleyball team successfully open its 2008 season with a three-set victory over St. Francis (N.Y.), Friday night at the Wesley Brown Field House in Annapolis. The Mids defeated the Terriers by scores of 25-13, 25-13 and 25-19 to win their home opener for the 13th time in the last 14 years.
"It was a good, solid win to start the season," said Navy head coach Mike Schwob. "Our offense was very strong throughout most of the match and our serving and defense really came through for us when we needed it."
Navy quickly jumped out to a 7-2 lead in the opening set and held an advantage of at least four points over the remainder of the set. The Mids collectively committed just one attack error while totaling a .379 attack percentage and limiting St. Francis to a .000 percentage over the course of the set.
The Terriers opened the second set with back-to-back points and held a 4-2 lead until the Mids tallied nine of the next 12 points to take an 11-7 lead. Navy still held a four-point lead at 16-12 before closing out the set with a 9-1 run.
Gibbs, who totaled three kills on six attempts in the opening set, knocked down five kills on six swings in the second set to help the Mids post a .407 attack percentage in the set. In comparison, St. Francis recorded a .091 hitting percentage in the middle set.
Set three was tight early on. The score was knotted at 5-5 when St. Francis put together its best sequence of plays during the match to take leads of 12-7 and 15-10. Quickly, however, a kill from Krista Eschelman (Jr., Germantown, Md.), a block from the duo of Gibbs and Abbie Merkl (Jr., Upper Marlboro, Md.), an attack error by Sr. Francis, a kill from Aubrey Manes (Jr., Pratt, Kan.) and another attack error by the Terriers resulted in the Mids tying the set at 15-15.
The two teams traded sideouts to make the score 16-16, then Gibbs knocked down a kill and Merkl dropped in back-to-back service aces to give Navy a 19-16 lead. The Terriers would close to within two points at 19-17, 20-18 and 21-19, but the Mids recorded the ensuing four points to end the match.
"We played very well in sets one and two," said Schwob. "St. Francis made some adjustments during the break and it took us until the middle of set three to get back on track again. We did a much better job of both serving and receiving serve once we reached the mid-point of the set."
Navy held statistical advantages over St. Francis in hitting percentage, .326-.024, service aces, 9-3, and team blocks, 10-2, in the match.
Gibbs led all players in the match with her one dozen kills and career-best .667 attack percentage. Manes contributed nine kills, Eschelman added seven kills and tied Gibbs for blocking honors in the match with five, while Merkl tallied four service aces.
A large crowd of well nearly 350 fans filled the bleachers in the initial night of volleyball matches to be played in the Wesley Brown Field House.
"It was a tremendous atmosphere," said Schwob. "I don't recall this much excitement in any of our season opening matches before, and it rivaled a lot of our conference matches. Everyone really helped us enjoy a true home court advantage and we appreciate the efforts of all who not only came, but also those who helped get the crowd here and kept them going throughout the match."
The Navy-St. Francis match was the second to be played as part of the annual Trident Classic. In the opening contest, Bryant posted a three-set victory over USC Upstate.
Four matches are slated to be played Sunday in the Wesley Brown Field House as part of the final day of the tournament. Navy will take on Bryant at 10 a.m., St. Francis will play USC Upstate at 12 Noon, St. Francis will again be on the court at 3 p.m. to play Bryant, then Navy and USC Upstate will close out the weekend at 5 p.m.
All home Navy volleyball matches are free to all fans this season.
