Sept. 6, 2008

Final Stats

Box Score in PDF Format

BOILING SPRINGS, N.C. -- North Carolina native Jessie Sims (Sr., Etowah, N.C.) recorded 15 kills to reach 1,000 for her career and help pace the Navy volleyball team to a three-set victory over Gardner-Webb, Saturday morning at the Runnin' Bulldog Classic in Boiling Springs, N.C. The Mids (5-0) knocked off the tournament host Bulldogs (1-4) by scores of 25-21, 25-22, 25-18.

Navy will conclude play at the tournament later today with a 3 p.m. match against Charleston Southern.

Unlike Friday's match for Navy when the Mids scored 12 of the first 13 points of their match against Winston-Salem State, Navy quickly fell behind to the Bulldogs by the score of 7-2 at the beginning of the contest. The Mids were able to tie the score at 10-10, soon build a 17-13 advantage and jumped in front 23-20 on a kill from Aubrey Manes (Jr., Pratt, Kan.). Back-to-back kills by the Bulldogs trimmed the Navy lead down to one point, but Sims ended the set with back-to-back kills of her own to allow Navy to take a 1-0 advantage in sets.

The second set was tight right from the start with the score tied at every point but one up until it reached 8-8. Three consecutive points on two Gardner-Webb attack errors and a service ace from Marissa Watson (Sr., Redondo Beach, Calif.) allowed Navy to take an 11-8 advantage. The Navy lead remained only a point or two until the score was knotted again at 17-17. Gardner-Webb took one-point leads of 18-17 and 19-18 when a pair of kills from Sims wrapped around a Watson ace allowed Navy to take a 21-19 lead. The Bulldogs pulled to within one point at 21-20, but kills by Sims and Krista Eschelman (Jr., Germantown, Md.) and an attack error from the Bulldogs let Navy build some breathing room with a 24-20 lead. Gardner-Webb erased Navy's first set point with a kill, but the Mids converted on their second opportunity with a Manes kill.

After digging a 3-0 deficit for themselves at the start of the third set, Navy quickly went on a 10-2 run to take a 10-5 lead. The Bulldogs stormed right back, however, and tied the set at 11-11. The teams traded the ensuing two points, then a 6-0 run by Navy -- that concluded with Sims setting Watson for a kill and Watson setting Sims twice for kills -- gave the Mids an 18-12 lead. The Navy advantage remained at a minimum of three points (19-16) over the remainder of the set.

"It was a very defensive match," said Navy head coach Mike Schwob. "The ball kept coming back and coming back over the net. We looked very sharp on defense, and that allowed us the chances to eventually put the ball away on offense."

Navy held advantages over Gardner-Webb in hitting percentage (.209-.146), digs (80-72) and service aces (8-4). A total of seven players in the match hauled in 10 or more digs, with Holly Berger (Fr., Claremont, Calif.) pacing Navy with 17 and Watson and Sims grabbing 15 apiece for the Mids. The two teams combined for just 5.0 team blocks in the match, with Abbie Merkl (Jr., Upper Marlboro, Md.) tallying three block assists for the Mids.

In addition to her 15 kills and an identical number of digs, Sims also hit .351 in the match. She was joined in double-figure kills by 10 from Alexa Gibbs (Sr., Springfield, Ill.), who also totaled a match-high hitting percentage of .450.

Sims would notch the 1,000th kill of her career on the penultimate point of the match. She becomes the seventh player in Navy Division I history (since 1991) to record 1,000 career kills. Sims also becomes just the third player during this era to tally both 1,000 kills and 1,000 digs in a career (Rachel Shropa, 1996-99; Jen Williams, 1996-99). Additionally, she has now hauled in 1,194 career digs, the second-highest total in Navy history and only 77 from becoming Navy's career digs leader (Shropa, 1,270).

"Jessie has been a very consistent offensive and defensive performer for us," said Schwob. "Her reaching 1,000 kills and digs is a testament to that. She provides a stable presence and we count on that a great deal."