Sept. 5, 2009

Final Stats

TOWSON, Md. -- The Navy volleyball team closed play at the Battle of Baltimore Tournament by dropping a pair of three-set matches to Loyola and Towson Saturday at the Towson Center in Towson, Md.

Loyola (2-5) def. Navy (1-5), 3-0 (25-17, 25-19, 26-24)
Navy held a slim 6-5 lead early in the first set until Loyola ran off the next seven points to take a 12-6 advantage. The closest the Mids could come to the Greyhounds over the remainder of the set was four points at 14-10. The start of the second set saw the Mids score the opening six points, but the Greyhounds eventually tied the set at 9-9. Loyola would go on to hold a slim lead over the next few points (14-12) before eventually opening up a five-point margin at 19-14 on its way to winning the set.

The Greyhounds carried that momentum over into the start of the third set and took an 11-4 advantage over the Mids. Navy slowly chipped away at the deficit and eventually tied the score at 14-14. After a Loyola kill gave the Greyhounds a 15-14 lead, the Mids went on another 4-0 run to take an 18-15 lead. The Navy advantage was still three points at 21-18 before Loyola tied the score at 22-22. After a kill by Kathryn Dircks gave Loyola a 23-22 lead, Carolyn Ewert (Fr., Bakersfield, Calif.) answered with a kill for Navy to tie the score again. Karlee Woodward knocked down a kill on the next play to take the Greyhounds to match point, which the Mids erased with another kill by Ewert. Nina Camaioni promptly tallied back-to-back kills for Loyola to end the match.

Navy was hurt by its serving throughout the match. The Mids finished -11 in service aces to errors (one ace, 12 errors), while Loyola was +6 in the same ratio (seven aces, one error).

"You can't give away points like we did on serves and expect to win matches," said Navy head coach Mike Schwob.

Serving aside, the two teams finished the match with nearly identical statistics. Both teams tallied 38 kills and 3.0 blocks, with Loyola holding a 47-40 advantage in digs and a .223-.183 advantage in attack percentage.

Meghan Carpenter (So., Frederick, Md.) led Navy with 12 kills and a .440 hitting percentage, while Ewert recorded 10 kills and a team-best 14 digs.

Dircks paced Loyola with 13 kills, while Camaioni recorded a double-double of her own with 12 kills and 11 digs.

After defeating the Mids, Loyola concluded the tournament by posting a four-set win over Maryland.

Towson (6-2) def. Navy (1-6), 3-0 (25-22, 25-16, 25-15)
The opening set featured 12 ties and four lead changes, with the last tie coming at 16-16. The Tigers then took a slim lead and were able to maintain it over the remainder of the set.

Towson slowly built up a 15-10 lead in the second set before going on a 5-1 run to pull away from the Mids for good. The third set was similar as the Tigers turned a slim 12-10 lead into a 15-10 advantage. Back-to-back points for Navy made the score 15-12, but Towson responded with a 5-1 run to build what would prove to be an insurmountable 20-13 lead.

Despite the scores, the two teams posted similar statistics in the match. Each team hauled in 26 digs and Towson finished with just three more kills than Navy did. The Tigers, however, recorded a hitting percentage of .384 and nine aces while limiting the Mids to a hitting percentage of .146 and just three aces.

Ewert finished the night with 14 kills to pace all players in the match. Additionally, her five digs ranked second on the team. Her performance in the tournament finale allowed her to earn all-tournament recognition.

"We have had one or in many cases two sets in every match this season where we have been able to play very well," said Schwob. "Not well enough to win, but enough to see the signs of progress we are making against the high level of competition we are facing. Our challenges now are to get us over that hump to first win some sets, then maintain that consistent level of play throughout a match in order to win matches. We are discouraged by our record, but not with the progress we are making."

Navy will return to action this coming weekend when the Mids face a trio of teams at the Delaware State Tournament.