Nov. 5, 2011

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ANNAPOLIS, Md. - Christy Rapp's (Jr., Royal Oak, Mich.) career-high 14 kills were not enough to lift the Navy volleyball team in its match Saturday against Holy Cross as the Crusaders posted a 25-23, 26-24, 25-19 win over the Midshipmen in the Wesley A. Brown Field House in Annapolis.

"We were outplayed again," said Navy head coach Larry Bock. "We hadn't seen the trouble with the tips and the off-speed shots that we did today. Holy Cross did a good job with changing speeds on us. Their `pitching coach' did a better job of making adjustments than I did."

Navy (6-21, 1-11 Patriot League) held a lead of as many as four points - 11-7 -- in the opening set before Holy Cross (8-21, 4-12) tied the frame at 15-15. After a kill by Rapp gave the Mids a 16-15 lead, the Crusaders ran off the next three points to take an 18-16 lead. Maida Kalic' (Sr., Vernon, N.Y.) tallied a kill for Navy to slice the lead in half, but that was followed by Holy Cross recording three consecutive points to build a 21-17 cushion. The Mids rallied and pulled to within one point at 23-22 on an attack error by Holy Cross. A Navy attack error boosted the difference back to two points, but the Mids again made it a one-point set at 24-23 on another kill by Rapp. Holy Cross would close out the set on a kill by Megan Lynch.

The second set, which would feature 15 ties and seven lead changes, was similar to the first in that Navy held a 17-14 lead midway through the set. The Crusaders regained the lead at 20-19 before Navy took the advantage back at 23-22 on a kill by Erin Fortner (So., Villa Hills, Ky.). Liz Ashton tallied a kill for Holy Cross to tie the score, then Hannah Stokes posted another kill for the Crusaders to give them a 24-23 lead. Fortner dropped in a kill to tie the score, but that was immediately followed Alicia Swearingen tallying back-to-back kills to give Holy Cross the second set.

Holy Cross quickly built an 11-6 lead in the early part of the third set before Navy winnowed the margin down to two points at 18-16. The Crusaders promptly went on a 4-1 run to take a 22-17 advantage before finishing off the set and the match.

"These close sets simply come down to execution," said Bock. "When you get outhit as we did, unless something crazy happens you are going to lose. It was a testament to the fortitude of our players that we were as close as we were."

Most of the statistics between the teams in the close match were nearly identical, but Holy Cross held offensive advantages over Navy in both kills (42-35) and hitting percentage (.264-.192).

Rapp's 14 kills paced all players in the match and bettered her previous personal high of 12 kills that was recorded in a five-set match. The lone Mid to reach double figures in kills on the afternoon, Rapp also posted a .423 attack percentage in the contest.

"We received a tremendous effort from Christy today," said Bock. "Without her this match could have been over with far sooner than it was."

Lynch recorded 11 kills to lead the Holy Cross team.

Navy will close out its season with matches at home on Nov. 11 against Lafayette (7 p.m.) and Nov. 12 against Lehigh (4 p.m.)