Sept. 4, 2010

Final Stats

BUFFALO, N.Y. -- Erin Fortner (Fr., Villa Hills, Ky.), Ndidi Ibe (So., North Richland Hills, Texas) and Lauren Carpenter (Jr., Murphy, Texas) all posted at least 10 kills to help the Navy volleyball team record a four-set victory over Delaware State, Saturday afternoon in Buffalo, N.Y. The 25-17, 24-26, 25-22, 25-22 victory by the Mids was their second in three matches at the University at Buffalo Invitational and was their third in their last four matches overall.

Delaware State (2-5) had won 20 matches during the 2009 season, which included a four-set victory by the Lady Hornets over the Mids (3-4).

"We played two solid matches here," said Navy head coach and Buffalo-native Mike Schwob of the team's victories over Central Connecticut State and Delaware State. "Just as last weekend (at the Norfolk State Classic), our last match was our best volleyball of the tournament. Delaware State won a ton of matches last year and they have pretty much everyone back from last season, so this was a good win for us."

Navy was able to separate itself from Delaware State early in the first set. The Mids tallied four of the first five points of the frame on its way to taking a 20-9 advantage.

The second set was much tighter. It featured the score being tied 14 times to go along with seven lead changes. The score was either tied or one team held no more than a one-point lead at every serve from 16-16 through 24-24. With the score tied at 24-24, Martina Ferrari knocked down a kill to give Delaware State its second set-point opportunity. After failing to convert their previous chance at 24-23 thanks to a kill from Nicole Salmon (Fr., Aurora, Ill.), an attack error by Salmon at 25-24 gave the Lady Hornets the final point they needed to win the set.

The third set would also prove to be a close one as the score was tied 12 times and included five lead changes. Thanks to the momentum of winning the second set, the Lady Hornets quickly jumped out to leads of 7-3 and 10-6 in the early part of the set. The Mids responded with a run of their own and soon took a 12-11 lead on a kill by Fortner. The Navy advantage would soon grow to 17-14, but it would be a short-lived lead as Delaware State tied the set at 18-18. The score would also be tied at 19-19, 20-20, 21-21 and 22-22 before setter Jenny Rudewicz (Sr., Winter Garden, Fla.) fed Fortner for a kill to give Navy a 23-22 lead. The ensuing play saw Rudewicz find Carpenter for a kill to take the Mids to set point. An attack error by Ferrari concluded the set with the Mids winning to take a 2-1 lead.

Though what would prove to be the final set of the match featured the same score as was in the third set, Navy held sizeable leads until late in the set. After building early cushions of 5-2 and 11-7, Navy would soon take its largest lead of the set at 16-10. But the Lady Hornets stormed back and sliced the margin down to just one point at 17-16 before tying the score at 19-19. A kill by Carpenter was followed by back-to-back kills from Fortner that gave Navy a 22-19 lead. The teams proceeded to trade kills on the next two points before another kill from Delaware State's Ashley Herman allowed the Lady Hornets to pull to within one point of the Mids at 23-22. Fortner would set Carpenter for a kill that gave Navy a 24-22 lead, then an attack error by Delaware State's Sarah Wheatcroft concluded the two-hour match.

Navy's offense has struggled throughout the early part of the season, but the Mids totaled an attack percentage of .201 on the afternoon. Take away the second set that the Mids lost and it would have been an impressive .263. While its offense picked up today, the Navy defense continued its strong play by limiting Delaware State to an attack percentage of .145.

Though the Lady Hornets led the Mids in digs (73-68), Navy held advantages over Delaware State in both aces (6-3) and blocks (6-2).

As for individual statistics, Fortner's 17 kills led all players in the match. She also tallied 21 assists and eight digs and led Navy with both a .452 hitting percentage and three service aces. Ibe finished the afternoon with 12 kills and a pair of blocks while Carpenter added 11 kills and just one error on 27 swings (.370) while hauling in 14 digs. Besides Carpenter, Holly Berger (Jr., Claremont, Calif.) grabbed 16 digs and Rudewicz totaled 11 digs.

Erica Tajchman led Delaware State with 12 kills, while Sonja Banicevic tallied an impressive 26 digs.

"We are doing a good job at the service line and we had very good ball control today," said Schwob. "Delaware State's front row was bigger than ours, but we were able to hit around the block. Our team also played with a great deal of emotion today."

Navy will next play a trio of matches at the Bryant Invitational September 10-11. There, the Mids will face the host Bulldogs, Manhattan and Boston College.