Nov. 13, 2009
Final Stats
LEWISBURG, Pa. -- Sophomores Meghan Carpenter (Frederick, Md.) and Maida Kalic' (Vernon, N.Y.) combined for half of Navy's kills as the Midshipmen posted a three-set sweep of Bucknell, Friday night at Davis Gym in Lewisburg, Pa. Navy picked up its second win in its last three contests with the 25-17, 25-19, 25-13 victory over the Bison.
Bucknell had swept the Mids when the two teams faced each other Oct. 3 in Annapolis.
"This was a nice win our players," said Navy head coach Mike Schwob. "We played with a lot of confidence right from the start of the match. We managed to separate ourselves a little bit around the 14th or 15th point of the first two sets, and took a late lead in the third set and were able to hold it.
Bucknell (4-9) scored four of the first five points of the match, but Navy (3-10) was able to tie the score at 7-7. The Bison soon took four-point leads at both 11-7 and 14-10. A kill by Ndidi Ibe (Fr., North Richland Hills, Texas) returned the serve to the Mids and allowed Lauren Carpenter (So., Murphy, Texas) to step to the service line for Navy with the Mids down by three points. Her last serve was with Navy holding a 21-14 lead. Included in her 10-point run were a trio of aces and three blocks by the Navy defense.
An attack error by Meghan Carpenter ended the run, but a Bucknell service error gave Navy the ensuing point and the serve again. Krista Eschelman (Sr., Germantown, Md.) and Meghan Carpenter promptly recorded kills to give the Mids a 24-15 lead. After back-to-back points for the Bison, a Meghan Carpenter kill concluded the first set.
Navy led for the entire second set, but the slim margin never allowed for the Mids to have any feeling of comfort. The Mids turned a 14-13 lead into a 17-13 advantage thanks to a kill by Eschelman and a pair of miscues on the Bucknell side of the court. Navy was able to expand its margin to as many as five points at 21-16, but Bucknell closed to within two points at 21-19. A kill by Kalic' made it a three-point margin and allowed Lauren Carpenter to once again drop back to serve. A kill by Meghan Carpenter and a Bucknell attack error led to a Bucknell timeout, after which Lauren Carpenter served an ace to close out the second set.
The third set would feature 10 ties and four lead changes. Bucknell held early control of the set as the Bison slowly edged out to a 14-9 lead. Navy managed to tie the set at 15-15, and the score would be tied again at 16, 17, 18 and 19 points. Bucknell then took a 20-19 lead on a ball-handling error by Navy setter Jenny Rudewicz (Jr., Winter Garden, Fla.), but a kill by Ibe tied the score at 20-20. Dropping back to serve again for Navy was Lauren Carpenter, and she once again delivered.
A Bucknell attack error after her initial serve gave Navy the lead at 21-20, then Rudewicz fed Kalic' for a kill to give Navy a two-point lead. It quickly became 23-20 when Carpenter dropped in her fifth service ace of the night. Back-to-back Navy attack errors, however, allowed Bucknell to pull to within one point of the Mids. Rudewicz then found Meghan Carpenter for a kill to take the Mids to match point. A Bucknell kill allowed the Bison to stave off one match point, but an attack error ended the Bucknell rally and the match.
"Lauren Carpenter was huge for us tonight," said Schwob. "She served so well and put us in great position to score points. Even when she didn't record an ace, she still served a tough ball for Bucknell to handle."
Other than kills and hitting percentage, which Navy led by counts of 39-30 and .290-.132, respectively, all other statistics recorded by the teams during the 90-minute match were virtually identical.
Meghan Carpenter posted 11 kills to lead all players on the night and Kalic' added nine kills and a .471 attack percentage for the Mids. Lauren Carpenter, meanwhile, contributed a match-high 11 digs to her five-ace effort.
Navy will close its 2009 season Saturday afternoon when the Mids play at Colgate in a 4 p.m. match in Hamilton, N.Y.
