Sept. 6, 2008

Final Stats

Box Score in PDF Format

BOILING SPRINGS, N.C. -- Charleston Southern rallied to win the final two sets of the match to hand the Navy volleyball team its first loss of the season, Saturday afternoon at the Runnin' Bulldog Classic in Boiling Springs, N.C. Despite the five-set loss by scores of 25-16, 19-25, 25-16, 25-22, 15-12, the Mids were declared the overall winner of the two-day tournament that also included Winston-Salem State and tournament-host Gardner-Webb.

"It was disappointing to end what was a very successful weekend for us with this loss," said Navy head coach Mike Schwob. "We had a lot of objectives we wanted to meet this weekend in relation to the development of our squad, both individually and collectively, and we hit most of the them. It is nice, though, to come away with a second tournament title in as many weeks of the season."

Navy, Charleston Southern and Gardner-Webb all posted 2-1 match records at the tournament, with each team sweeping Winston-Salem State. The tiebreaker used to determine the final placings were the number of sets won and loss over the tournament. Navy won eight sets and lost two (+6), Charleston Southern won eight sets and lost five (+3), and Gardner-Webb won six sets and lost five (+1). With the best set margin between the teams, the Mids were awarded first place.

The Lady Bucs (2-4) jumped out to a 10-2 lead in the first set and held an advantage of at least six points over its remainder to win the first set. Navy (5-1) then scored six of the final seven points of the second set to even the match at one set apiece. Strong play in the middle of the third set allowed the Mids to take a two sets to one advantage, but a late six-point deficit of 21-15 was too much for the Mids to overcome in set number four.

Navy held an 11-9 lead in the decisive fifth set until Charleston Southern's Cori Holeman recorded back-to-back kills and Crissy Skokan dropped in a service ace to give the Lady Bucs a 12-11 lead. A kill from Alexa Gibbs (Sr., Springfield, Ill.) tied the score at 12-12, then Amy Nokes contributed a kill to give CSU a 13-12 advantage. The Lady Bucs served for the match after Holeman, Sam Sasan and Amberle Trinder combined for a triple block on Gibbs, then a kill by Trinder on the ensuing point ended the match.

Charleston Southern held advantages over Navy in digs (73-64) and team blocks (11.0-6.0) in the match. Both teams dropped in 11 aces, though the Mids tallied 11 service errors to just seven for the Lady Bucs.

Individually for Navy, North Carolina-native Jessie Sims (Sr., Etowah, N.C.), who earlier in the day recorded the 1,000th kill of her career, led Navy with 19 kills and a .395 attack percentage. Teammate Gibbs nearly matched her offensive performance with 17 kills and a .371 hitting percentage. Defensively, Sims hauled in a Navy-best 16 digs, with Gibbs pacing the Mids with four blocks. Navy setter Marissa Watson (Sr., Redondo Beach, Calif.) finished with 42 assists, 14 digs and five service aces.

Sims was tabbed as the Runnin' Bulldog Classic Most Valuable Player, while Gibbs was named to the all-tournament team.

Navy will take to the road again next week when the Mids take part in the Fiesta Bowl Classic in Flagstaff, Ariz. Navy will face Duquesne Friday before taking on tournament-host Northern Arizona and Hampton Saturday.