Sept. 12, 2009
Final Stats
DOVER, Del. -- Abbie Merkl (Sr., Upper Marlboro, Md.) and Carolyn Ewert (Fr., Bakersfield, Calif.) combined for 19 kills and a .351 attack percentage to help the Navy volleyball team post a three-set sweep of Norfolk State, Saturday morning in Dover, Del. Both teams saw their respective records on the year change to 2-7 following the 25-12, 26-24, 25-19 victory by the Mids at the DSU Hornet Invitational.
"We finally put together a complete match," said Navy head coach Mike Schwob. "We have been working towards that since the start of the season."
Navy scored five of the first six points of the match to quickly jump in front of Norfolk State. Helping the Mids to this early advantage was middle blocker Krista Eschelman (Sr., Germantown, Md.), who recorded a kill before tallying back-to-back block assists. The Spartans sliced the margin down to three points at 11-8 before Navy scored the next three points. After the score reached 15-10, the Mids broke the set open for good with a 6-0 run. Eschelman was again the spark during this span as she recorded a pair of service aces.
The Mids had a great start to the second set by once again posting five of the first six points of the frame. The Spartans came back and tied the set at 9-9. It would be the first of nine ties in the set, with the last coming at 20-20. Kaitlin Roseti (So., Williamsville, N.Y.) gave Navy a one-point lead with a solo block, then the Mids took a two-point lead following a kill by Lauren Carpenter (So., Murphy, Texas). A Merkl service ace expanded the Navy lead to 23-20.
Merkl followed her ace with a service error, but Maida Kalic' (So., Vernon, N.Y.) knocked down a kill to give Navy a 24-21 lead. Navy's first set-point opportunity was wiped away on a kill by Elayne Greer, then a kill by Norfolk State's Ellica Morris and a ball-handling error by Jenny Rudewicz (Jr., Winter Garden, Fla.) allowed the Spartans to tie the set at 24-24.
A Merkl kill gave the Mids a 25-24 lead, with Navy finally able to claim the set when Greer recorded an attack error.
Unlike sets one and two, set three was close at the very beginning of it. The score was tied 11 times in the early going until it reached 16-16. Navy tried to put some distance between itself and Norfolk State with a quick 3-0 run, but back-to-back points by the Spartans made the score 19-18. A Ewert kill gave Navy a two-point lead, which quickly became three points on a block by the tandem of Merkl and Eschelman. Ewert followed with an ace to give the Mids a 22-18 lead. After a kill by Greer halted the Navy run, Meghan Carpenter (So., Frederick, Md.) and Merkl recorded consecutive kills to take the Mids to match point at 24-19. A bad set by Norfolk State's Ellica Morris ended the match.
"We feel good about not just the result, but the way we played," said Schwob. "We came out of the gates great in the first two sets, then handled the challenges of being tied late in the sets very well. We have struggled with both of those aspects through the early part of the season."
"We lost to Hampton the first weekend of the season and Norfolk State beat them last week, so this is one example of the progress we have been looking for out of us. Additionally, we received contributions from everyone who took to the floor today. We need to have that in each and every match."
Navy totaled an attack percentage of .308 in the contest while limiting Norfolk State to a mark of .105. The Mids also tallied nine aces and 9.0 team blocks in the match, with the Spartans tallying four aces and 3.0 team blocks.
Merkl led Navy in the match with 10 kills and a .471 attack percentage. Close behind her was Ewert, with nine kills and a hitting percentage of .250, and Kalic', with five kills and a .444 attack percentage. Eschelman finished the match with five kills, three aces and six blocks.
Norfolk State's Charlotte Armstead tied Merkl for offensive honors with 10 kills of her own.
Navy will close play in the DSU Hornet Invitational later Saturday against tournament-host Delaware State. The Mids and the Hornets will meet again one week from today when the teams face each other in the Elon Volleyball Classic.
