Sept. 30, 2011
Final Stats
WORCESTER, Mass. -- A struggling offense hurt the Navy volleyball team in a narrow three-set loss to Holy Cross in a match played Friday night in Worcester, Mass. The Mids posted a season-low attack percentage of .035 in falling to the Crusaders by scores of 25-22, 25-22, 25-23.
"We were super aggressive with our attack errors," said Navy head coach Larry Bock. "We just were not sharp."
Navy (6-12, 1-2 Patriot League) rallied from a 19-13 deficit in the opening set to tie the score at 21-21. Holy Cross (6-12, 2-1) answered with a kill and then back-to-back attack errors by the Mids gave the Crusaders a 24-21 lead. The two teams promptly traded sideouts to give Holy Cross a 1-0 lead in sets.
Holy Cross found itself holding a 20-15 lead in the second set when the Mids came up with another rally. This time, however, Navy could only pull to within one point of the Crusaders at 22-21 before a kill and a block took Holy Cross to set point. After a Holy Cross service error made the score 24-22, a kill by the Crusaders closed out the set.
The third set was close from start to finish as the score was tied a total of nine times during the frame. The last tie came at 23-23, which was followed by back-to-back attack errors by Navy to allow Holy Cross to close out the set and the match.
Navy posted an equal number of kills and attack errors in both the first and second sets (nine kills and nine errors in each) before knocking down 12 kills and committing eight hitting errors in the final set (.105). Holy Cross tallied hitting percentages of .125, .162 and .324, respectively, in the three sets for an overall mark of .198.
In other team statistics, the Mids totaled three aces, three service errors, 46 digs and nine team blocks, while the Crusaders finished the match with five aces, 11 service errors, 49 digs and eight team blocks.
"I think we responded well with our blocking and serving," said Bock. "Our attacks were just too aggressive. We were an impatient offense that was trying to terminate the ball in situations where we shouldn't have tried to do so. If we had hit the ball better we would have put ourselves in a much better position than we did."
Carolyn Ewert (Jr., Bakersfield, Calif.) led Navy with eight kills, but she also posted a hitting percentage of negative .059, while Maida Kalic' (Sr., Vernon, N.Y.) recorded six kills, a .250 attack percentage and four blocks. Defensively for Navy, Holly Berger (Sr., Claremont, Calif.) grabbed 16 digs. The match marked the return to the lineup of setter Erin Fortner (So., Villa Hills, Ky.) after being out for two weeks due to an injury. She finished the match with 16 assists.
Megan Lynch led the Holy Cross offense with 16 kills.
Navy will face Army Saturday at 7 p.m. at West Point, N.Y.
