Sept. 25, 2010

Final Stats

LEWISBURG, Pa. -- Bucknell rallied from a two sets to one deficit to force a fifth set, then overcame Navy's serving for the match twice in the fifth set to post a 23-25, 25-10, 15-25, 25-19, 17-15 victory over the Mids Saturday evening in Davis Gym in Lewisburg, Pa.

The Bison (3-11, 1-1 Patriot League) held a 9-7 lead midway through the decisive fifth set, but the Mids (4-12, 0-2 Patriot League) tied the score with back-to-back kills from Nicole Salmon (Fr., Aurora, Ill.). The teams would take turns scoring points up until the score was 13-13. At that time Navy took the lead when Ndidi Ibe (So., North Richland Hills, Texas) and Erin Fortner (Fr., Villa Hills, Ky.) combined for a block of Katie Baumgarten. That took the Mids to match point, but it was erased on a kill from Baumgarten.

The ensuing play saw Veronica Ffrench (Fr., Milton, Fla.) record a kill to give the Mids a 15-14 advantage and another chance to serve for the match. Ffrench herself stepped to the service line and committed an error to allow Bucknell to tie the score. Salmon was promptly blocked to give the Bison a 16-15 lead, then Baumgarten registered another kill to end the over two-hour match.

"Both teams fought so hard tonight," said Navy head coach Mike Schwob. "We opened the door too many times for Bucknell tonight and they took advantage of those opportunities."

The opening set saw Bucknell jump out to leads of 18-11 and 22-18 before Navy was able to tie the score at 22-22. After a kill by Morgan Clark gave Bucknell a 23-22 lead, a kill by Ibe, a Bucknell attack error and a kill by Ffrench allowed the Mids to come away with the victory.

The Bison quickly established control of the second set by building a 20-6 advantage.

The two teams were consistently within a few points of each other in the early part of the third set. Then the Mids slowly stretched out a 13-11 lead into a 20-14 advantage, which provided enough of a cushion for Navy to hold on for the win.

The fourth set was similar to the third except the teams were reversed. After the Bison took a 13-11 lead, the teams exchanged the ensuing span of points until the Bucknell lead was 19-17. At that point a quick 3-0 run allowed the Bison to open up an insurmountable 22-17 advantage.

As would be expected in a match like this, the statistics between the teams were very similar. Bucknell held a slim .178-.167 advantage in hitting percentage and an 11.0-8.0 edge in blocks. Conversely, Navy led the Bison in both kills (54-52) and digs (62-48). The one significant difference between the teams came at the serving line. Bucknell dropped in 11 aces to three for Navy, but the Bison also committed 11 service errors to seven for the Mids.

Bucknell's Heidi Kamp led all players in the match with 21 kills and a .459 attack percentage. She was the lone Bison player to reach double figures in kills in the match. In Navy's match Friday at Colgate, freshmen were the top-three kill leaders for the Mids. Tonight, freshmen ranked first, second and fourth on the team in kills. Salmon paced the Mids with 15 kills, Ffrench placed second on the team with 11 and Fortner contributed eight kills. Finishing with one more kill than Fortner did was Ibe. Navy's lone senior, Jenny Rudewicz (Winter Garden, Fla.), totaled 21 assists and a match-high 17 digs on the night.

Navy will be open a four-match homestand Tuesday night when the Mids play host to Coppin State starting at 6 p.m. in the Wesley A. Brown Field House.