Nov. 5, 2010
Final Stats
WEST POINT, N.Y. -- After narrowing winning the first set, Army used a pair of sizeable runs in the second and fourth sets to post a 25-23, 14-25, 25-18, 25-10 victory over the Navy volleyball team Friday night at Gillis Field House in West Point, N.Y.
"When we executed on defense we were able to run the offense pretty effectively tonight," said Navy head coach Mike Schwob. "Our block struggled to get going and that put more pressure on our ability to find a rhythm on offense."
Navy (7-20, 1-10 Patriot League) opened up a four-point lead of 14-10 over the Black Knights midway through the opening set. Army (17-11, 10-1) answered with an 8-2 run that gave the Black Knights a 20-16 advantage. Navy would climb back into the set and pulled to within one point of Army at 23-22 on a kill from Maida Kalic' (Jr., Vernon, N.Y.). Army's Amanda Rowell knocked down a kill of her own to make the score 24-22, but Erin Fortner (Fr., Villa Hills, Ky.) sliced the lead in half when she recorded a kill. The Black Knights would close out the scoring in the first set on a kill from Francine Vazquez.
The second set was close in the early going as it included the score being tied nine times and four lead changes. Army broke open the set when a 10-0 run gave the Black Knights a 24-13 lead.
Navy managed to slowly pull away from Army in the middle part of the third set. The score was knotted at 13-13 when the Mids went on a 6-1 run to build a 19-14 advantage. The closest Army would narrow the margin down to was three points at 19-16, but Navy tallied the ensuing four points to take a 23-16 and pick up the win in the set.
The fourth set saw Army again use a 10-0 run to build a cushion over Navy. The score was tied at 6-6 when the Black Knights started their run to close out the match.
Army's offense tallied 57 kills and hit .250 on the night, while its defense held Navy to 36 kills and a .134 hitting percentage. The Black Knights also held advantages over the Mids in aces (7-2), digs (68-51) and blocks (9-5).
Five different Mids recorded at least four kills in the match, with Fortner's nine kills and Nicole Salmon's (Fr., Aurora, Ill.) eight pacing the team. Defensively for Navy, Ndidi Ibe (So., North Richland Hills, Texas) tallied four blocks and Holly Berger (Jr., Claremont, Calif.) hauled in 14 digs.
Army's offense was led by Megan Wilton's 15 kills, while Brittany Jensen grabbed 25 digs.
Navy will remain on the road Saturday for a 4 p.m. match at Holy Cross.
