Oct. 23, 2009
Final Stats
ANNAPOLIS, Md. -- Lafayette totaled 10 service aces and hit .232 during a three-set victory over the Navy volleyball team, Friday night at the Wesley A. Brown Field House in Annapolis. The Leopards defeated the Mids by scores of 25-16, 25-23, 25-23.
Lafayette (3-5 Patriot League) controlled the opening set from the start, scoring six of the first seven points from Navy (1-7) and building a 20-8 advantage. The Leopards hit .217 in the opening set while holding the Mids to a mark of -.048.
The second set featured a pair of lead changes and nine ties, with the last tie score coming at 15-15. Lafayette slowly inched its way out to a 23-19 lead before Navy scored the next three points to pull to within 23-22. A kill by Cara Mulholland gave the Leopards a 24-22 lead, an advantage that was promptly cut in half on a kill by Krista Eschelman (Sr., Germantown, Md.). An attack error by Navy's Meghan Carpenter (So., Frederick, Md.) on the ensuing point ended the set.
The third set was very similar to the second as neither team was able to distance itself from the other. The score was tied nine times in the set and the lead was exchanged three times. Lafayette held a 22-21 lead until Mulholland and her teammate Alana Taylor recorded back-to-back kills to give the Leopards a 24-21 lead. After Eschelman knocked down a kill, she and Ndidi Ibe (Fr., North Richland Hills, Texas) combined for a block of Mulholland to make the score 24-23. Both teams had several swings to end the next point, but a kill by Lafayette's Mary Cunning would conclude the match.
"We dug a hole for ourselves at the start of the first set that we couldn't get out of," said Schwob. "Lafayette was very aggressive out there and we were not. In the second and third sets, we gave ourselves opportunities but those little two or three point stretches hurt us."
After Lafayette held a sizeable advantage over Navy in hitting during the opening set, both teams tallied an attack percentage of .236 over the remaining two sets of the match. Thanks to its play in the first set, however, the Leopards did conclude the match with a .232-.172 advantage over Navy in hitting.
Defensively, Navy led Lafayette in both digs (33-30) and blocks (8-6).
Ibe led Navy's offense with 10 kills, while Carpenter tallied eight kills and Eschelman added seven kills and five blocks. Holly Berger (So., Claremont, Calif.) grabbed 11 digs, with Lauren Carpenter (So., Murphy, Texas) hauling in nine digs.
Mulholland paced all players on the night with 12 kills, while her teammate Kayly Elmer contributed 10 kills and a .556 attack percentage.
Navy will be back in action Saturday when the Mids play host to Lehigh. First serve for the match is at 12 Noon in the Wesley A. Brown Field House.
