Sept. 12, 2008

Final Stats

Box Score in PDF Format

FLAGSTAFF, Ariz. - Jessica Artman totaled 15 kills and a .737 attack percentage to help lead Duquesne to a three-set sweep of the Navy volleyball team, Friday night at the Rolle Activity Center in Flagstaff, Ariz. The Dukes improved to 8-1 on the season with the 25-22, 25-20, 25-15 win over the now 5-2 Midshipmen.

The match took place on the opening day of the Fiesta Bowl Classic hosted by Northern Arizona.

"It was a frustrating night," said Navy head coach Mike Schwob. "We couldn't get our offense going. Our defense was effective when we served tough and forced their setter to move to get the ball. As the match went on, though, we stopped putting the pressure on Duquesne's passers with our serve and that made it easier for their offense to get into a rhythm."

The opening set was tight throughout the frame. Navy held a 22-21 lead late in the set before a Duquesne kill, block and two more kills gave the Dukes a 25-22 win. Duquesne totaled a hitting percentage of .481 in the opening set to Navy's mark of .152.

The Mids jumped out to leads of 5-0 and 10-3 at the start of the second set, but the Dukes quickly went on an 8-1 run to tie the set at 11-11. The set was again tied at 18-18 when a short 3-0 run gave the Dukes a 21-18 advantage, which was enough of a cushion to allow them to hold on for the 25-20 win.

Set number three was tied at 6-6 until the Dukes went on a 6-0 run to take a 12-6 lead, which they soon increased to 19-10 on their way to posting the 25-15 win to close out the match.

Duquesne ended the night with an overall hitting percentage of .330 (43K-12E-94Att.), while limiting Navy to a season-low mark of .107 (32K-21E-103Att.). After hitting .152 in the opening set, the Mids hit .098 and .069 in the second and third sets, respectively.

The remaining statistics between the teams were nearly identical, with Duquesne holding advantages over Navy of just four digs and two team blocks. The Mids were able to drop in six service aces in the match to three for the Dukes.

Jessie Sims (Sr., Etowah, N.C.) was the lone Mid to reach double figures in kills with 12 on the night. Both of Navy's middle blockers, Alexa Gibbs (Sr., Springfield, Ill.) and Krista Eschelman (Jr., Germantown, Md.), tallied five kills in the match, but Eschelman only received 11 swings on the night while Gibbs totaled a hitting percentage of -.045.

Sims also was Navy's defensive leader with 11 digs.

Artman had a great night on offense, totaling 15 kills and just one error on 19 swings to finish with her .737 attack percentage. Like Sims for Navy, she was the lone Duquesne player to tally double-digit kills in the match.

Navy will play a pair of matches Saturday as the Fiesta Bowl Classic comes to an end. The Mids will play the tournament-host Lumberjacks at 3:30 p.m. EDT then Hampton at 7:30 p.m. The Navy-NAU match will be streamed live for free at www.bigskyconf.com(.)