Oct. 28, 2011

Final Stats

WASHINGTON, D.C. -- American's offense tallied 36 kills and a .280 attack percentage in posting a three-set victory over the Navy volleyball team Friday night at Bender Arena in Washington, D.C. The Eagles, who are tied for first place in the Patriot League, posted a 25-11, 25-18, 25-15 victory over the Midshipmen.

"We played poorly against a very good team," said Navy head coach Larry Bock.

American (17-10, 9-1 Patriot League) broke open the first set when a 9-0 run gave the Eagles a 14-4 lead over Navy (6-19, 1-9 Patriot League). The Mids were within two points of the Eagles at 12-10 in the second set when American ran off five of the next six points to build a 17-11 advantage. The Eagles then jumped out to a 5-1 lead in the early part of the third set. Navy was able to again close to within two points at 12-10, but that was followed by American scoring five consecutive points to open up a 17-10 cushion.

While its offense was having a productive night, American's defense also limited the Navy attack in the match. The Mids finished the evening with 15 kills and a -.051 attack percentage. American also held statistical advantages over Navy in service aces (11-3), digs (40-19) and blocks (9-7).

American's Rebecca Heath, who tallied 11 kills and one attack error in the first meeting between the teams this season, also posted 11 kills and one attack error -- to go along with a .500 hitting percentage -- Friday night. For Navy, both Erin Fortner (So., Villa Hills, Ky.) and Alex Cassel (Fr., Sandy, Utah) finished the match with five kills, while Maida Kalic' (Sr., Vernon, N.Y.) tallied five blocks.

"What was disheartening was that we played poorly in the areas we really needed to play well in, like passing and serving," said Bock. "We didn't handle those facets real well."

Navy will begin a season-ending span of four consecutive home matches November 4 when the Mids play host to Army in the Wesley A. Brown Field House.