Sept. 27, 2008

Final Stats

Box Score in PDF Format

ANNAPOLIS, Md. -- The Navy volleyball team dropped its second Patriot League match in as many days Saturday when Colgate recorded a 25-18, 25-17, 25-22 victory over the Midshipmen in the Wesley A. Brown Field House. The loss comes one day after the Mids began their Patriot League campaign with a three-set loss to Bucknell.

As with Friday's match against Bucknell, Navy (9-5, 0-2 Patriot League) struggled over the opening points of the match. Colgate (5-9, 1-1 Patriot League) quickly jumped out to an 8-1 lead and held a sizeable advantage over the remainder of the set.

"We have to become better at the start of matches," said Navy head coach Mike Schwob. "We have dug deep holes for ourselves too many times this season."

The second set was close from the very beginning, with Colgate using a 3-0 run to build a 14-10 lead midway through the frame. Navy closed to within two points at 16-14 before Colgate went on another 3-0 run to take a 19-14 advantage that gave the Raiders enough of a cushion to win the second set.

Colgate promptly scored six of the opening eight points of the third set and eventually took a 19-11 lead over Navy. The Mids rallied, however, and soon closed to within two points at 20-18. After five consecutive sideouts made the score 23-20 Colgate, the Raiders received a kill from Merryl Pohl to pull to within match point at 24-20. Back-to-back points for Navy on a kill and a Colgate attack error brought the Mids to within 24-22, but Navy finally succumbed to the Raiders when Katrina Zawojski knocked down a kill to end the match.

"There is no question in my mind our desire and our fight never wavered throughout the match," said Schwob. "We need to continue that, but also match it with improved execution. We can learn a lot from our matches this week, and those lessons need to be applied the next time we take to the court for practice and then for a match."

Most statistics between the two teams were fairly even on the afternoon, except for hitting percentage where Colgate held a .282 - .181 advantage over Navy.

Navy's Alexa Gibbs (Sr., Springfield, Ill.) and Zawojski both led their respective offenses with 13 kills apiece, while Colgate's Jackie Adlam led all defensive players in the match with 16 digs. For Navy, Holly Berger (Fr., Claremont, Calif.) hauled in 13 digs to pace the Mids, with Krista Eschelman (Jr., Germantown, Md.) adding a match-high three blocks.

The Mids will remain at home for a trio of matches next week. Navy will step out of its conference season Wednesday when the Mids face Hampton in a 6 p.m. match in Macdonough Hall before returning to league play over the weekend. Navy will face Lehigh Friday at 7 p.m., then will take on Lafayette Saturday at 4 p.m. Both of those two matches will be played in the Wesley A. Brown Field House.