Nov. 14, 2009

Final Stats

HAMILTON, N.Y. -- The Navy volleyball team saw its 2009 season come to a close with a three-set loss to Colgate, Saturday afternoon at Cotterell Court in Hamilton, N.Y. The Raiders posted a 25-14, 25-19, 25-15 victory over the Midshipmen.

"Colgate's defense really limited our opportunities on offense," said Navy head coach Mike Schwob. "Even though we finished with more kills than they did, we never could get into any kind of rhythm due to the block we were facing."

Though Colgate (11-3) held leads of as many as five points in the early half of the opening set, the Raiders weren't able to pull away from the Mids (3-11) until late in the set. The margin was four points at 16-12 when Colgate went on a 6-1 run to take a 22-13 advantage over Navy.

The second set was tied at 12-12 until the Raiders scored the next three points to take a 15-12 lead. The margin remained just three points at 18-15 until a 4-1 run gave Colgate a 22-16 lead, which was enough of a cushion for the Raiders to win the set.

The score in the third set was tied at 14-14 until Colgate broke open the set with a 6-0 run that made the score 20-14.

Navy held a 34-32 advantage over Colgate in kills, but the Mids committed 28 attack errors to just 10 for the Raiders. That led to Colgate holding a .293-.063 advantage over Navy in hitting percentage. Both teams grabbed 28 digs in the match, while Colgate held leads over Navy in both blocks (8-6) and service aces (6-1).

Navy's Meghan Carpenter (So., Frederick, Md.) was the only player in the match to reach double figures in kills. Carpenter totaled 10 kills and a .238 attack percentage for the Mids. Navy's two seniors, Krista Eschelman (Germantown, Md.) and Abbie Merkl (Upper Marlboro, Md.) tallied eight and six kills, respectively, in their final match as Mids.

"I'm really pleased with how we finished the last few weeks of our season," said Schwob. "Our record this year has been disappointing to everyone, but the players continued to work hard right up until the very end. From the effort they displayed in practice and the enthusiasm they showed in matches, you couldn't tell we had the record we ended the year with. We were able to finally see the progress we had been hoping for over the last two weeks with the win over Army and last night's win at Bucknell. To be able to see the players be rewarded with those wins was great for all of us associated with the program."