Sept. 28, 2010
Final Stats
ANNAPOLIS, Md. -- Veronica Ffrench (Fr., Milton, Fla.) led the offense while Holly Berger (Jr., Claremont, Calif.) paced the defense in a three-set victory by the Navy volleyball team over Coppin State Tuesday night at the Wesley A. Brown Field House in Annapolis, Md. The Midshipmen came away with a 25-23, 25-21, 25-14 victory over the Eagles.
"We started slow tonight, which had as much to do with the play of Coppin State as anything, but we were able to improve as the match went on," said Navy head coach Mike Schwob. "Close sets have been a problem for us this season, but tonight we were the ones making the plays at the end and that allowed us to close out the first and second sets."
The opening set was a see-saw contest between the two teams. Coppin State (1-12) took a 12-8 lead in the early part of the set, but Navy (5-12) bounced back to take a 16-14 lead. Back came the Eagles who were able to build advantages of 20-17 and 22-19 over the Mids. Coppin State still held a 23-21 lead when Ffrench knocked down back-to-back kills (her fourth and fifth, respectively) of the set to tie the score at 23-23. An attack error by Christina Epps took the Mids to set point, with Navy able to finish out the set when Coppin State setter Haley Beechler was whistled for a ball-handling error.
Navy tried to build a cushion over Coppin State early in the second set as the Mids took a 10-7 lead. That advantage was quickly erased when the Eagles went on a 5-1 run to take a 12-11 lead. The score would then be tied at each point up until and including 16-16. A Ffrench kill would spark a 3-0 run for the Mids, but the Eagles soon closed to within one point at 22-21. Maida Kalic' (Jr., Vernon, N.Y.) tallied a kill for the Mids, which was followed by another ball-handling error by Beechler that gave Navy a 24-21 lead. Coppin State's Yolanda Reid then recorded an attack error to finish out the scoring in the frame.
The Mids quickly ran off the opening seven points of the third set to finally pull away from the Eagles.
"Our defense improved as the match went on, and we were able to turn those defensive plays into points," said Schwob.
Navy as a team finished the match with 39 kills and a .173 attack percentage, while Coppin State tallied 30 kills and a hitting percentage of .112.
Individually, Ffrench finished the night with a career-high 14 kills to lead all Mids in the match. Also having a strong night was Kalic', who recorded nine kills, hit .444 and tallied three block assists. Keying the Navy defense was Berger, who hauled in 20 digs over the course of the 80-minute match.
Leading all players in the match in kills was Coppin State's Ashley Saunders, who finished the night with 15 kills and a .333 attack percentage.
Navy will resume its Patriot League season this weekend with matches at home against Holy Cross on Friday and against Army in the Star Match between the service academies on Saturday. Both matches start at 7 p.m. in the Wesley A. Brown Field House. Admission is free for all Navy home volleyball matches.
