Sept. 1, 2009
Final Stats
ANNAPOLIS, Md. -- Minnesota totaled a .523 attack percentage while holding the Navy volleyball team to a mark of .167 as the 13th-ranked Golden Gophers posted a three-set sweep of the Midshipmen Tuesday night in the Wesley A. Brown Field House in Annapolis. Minnesota improved to 3-1 on the year with the 25-18, 25-17, 25-11 victory over the 1-2 Navy squad.
"We take nothing but positives away from tonight's match," said Navy head coach Mike Schwob. "We displayed great energy and fight from the first point to the last, we were able to string together points in sets one and two and we saw the areas that Minnesota was able to exploit on us, which very much helps us as we prepare for the rest of the season. We gained a lot of confidence from tonight.
"Additionally, we had a great crowd tonight. To walk in at the start of the match and see every seat filled and then watch the excitement from everyone in the stands throughout the match was a huge spark for us. Our players fed off of the excitement of the crowd, and I think the enthusiasm of the players helped inspire those in the stands. It was a great atmosphere to play in."
Navy held a 12-11 lead early in the first set before Minnesota went on a 4-0 run to take a 15-12 lead. After the Mids were able to tie the score at 15-15, the Gophers scored nine of the next 10 points to take a 24-16 advantage. Navy staved off a pair of set points before Minnesota closed out the set.
Minnesota held a 10-9 lead at the start of the second set before using a 9-2 run to take a 19-11 advantage over Navy. The Mids tried to claw their way back into the set by using a 4-0 run of their own to slice the deficit in half (19-15), but Minnesota scored the final six points of the set to take a 2-0 lead in the match.
The Gophers took control of set number three early by quickly building a 14-5 lead. After a Navy sideout (14-6), Minnesota scored five of the next six points to take a 19-7 advantage.
In addition to its sizeable advantage in hitting percentage, Minnesota also held statistical leads over Navy in kills (39-27), digs (23-13) and blocks (6.0-1.0).
A total of six Minnesota players tallied an attack percentage of over .500 on the night, with Katherine Harms leading the team with a mark of .750 (6-0-8). Topping all players in the match in kills tonight was Tabitha Love with 11.
Meghan Carpenter (So., Frederick, Md.) knocked down a Navy-best seven kills in the match, while Carolyn Ewert (Fr., Bakersfield, Calif.) finished the night with six kills.
Navy will play its final home matches in the month of September Friday when the Mids play host to the opening day of the Battle of Baltimore. Navy will face Morgan State at 3 p.m. and Maryland at 7 p.m., with both matches taking place in the Wesley A. Brown Field House. Admission is free for all Navy home volleyball matches.
