Sept. 24, 2010
Final Stats
HAMILTON, N.Y. -- Navy freshmen accounted for 35 of the team's 48 kills in a four-set loss to the Colgate volleyball team Friday night at Cotterell Court in Hamilton, N.Y. The 25-19, 22-25, 25-16, 25-22 victory by the Raiders was the opening match of the Patriot League season for both programs.
"One of our strengths this season, to date, has been our defense and in particular our blocking," said Navy head coach Mike Schwob. "But while our offense played well for most of the match, we couldn't find any rhythm with our block. I'm happy we were able to produce some offense, but we need both offense and defense clicking to win matches."
The Mids (4-11) were playing from behind throughout the opening set. Colgate (8-6) scored seven of the first nine points of the set to quickly take a sizeable lead. Navy managed to cut the margin down to three points on a pair of occasions at 13-10 and 22-19 before a 3-0 run by the Raiders finished out the set.
The second set saw the Mids take an early 10-6 advantage only to see the Raiders take over the lead at 16-15. Navy answered with a 5-0 run of its own to take a 20-16 advantage. The Mids soon built a 24-19 cushion before Colgate was able to whittle the margin down to two points at 24-22. After a Navy timeout, Erin Fortner (Fr., Villa Hills, Ky.) knocked down a kill to allow the Mids to even the match at one set apiece.
The third set started off close with Colgate holding a slim 9-8 lead, but the Raiders would quickly pull away from Navy with a 10-2 run.
The fourth set was the closest from start to finish of the match. The score was tied 11 times and the lead exchanged hands on four occasions. What would prove to be the final tie of the night took place at 22-22 when a Colgate attack error closed out a 3-0 run for the Mids. Casey Ritt promptly posted a kill to give the Raiders a one-point lead, then a bad set by Navy's Jenny Rudewicz (Sr., Winter Garden, Fla.) took the Raiders to match point. Ritt would close out the set and the match with a service ace.
The statistics between the teams were pretty even. Colgate held slim advantages over Navy in kills (53-48), attack percentage (.264-.248), aces (7-4) and blocks (9-6), while the Mids narrowly outdug the Raiders by a count of 43-40.
Pacing the Navy offense was Nicole Salmon (Fr., Aurora, Ill.) with 14 kills and a .303 attack percentage, and Veronica Ffrench (Fr., Milton, Fla.) with 12 kills and a .455 hitting percentage. Ranking third on the team in kills was fellow freshman Fortner with nine. Rudewicz led the Mids with 22 assists and a match-best 12 digs.
Leading all players on the night in kills was Ritt with 19.
Navy will remain on the road for a match Saturday at Bucknell. First serve in Lewisburg, Pa., is slated for 5 p.m. A link to live statistics from the match can be found at www.NavySports.com(.)
