Nov. 8, 2014 Final Stats
ANNAPOLIS, Md. -- Middle hitters
Alex Cassel (Sr., Sandy, Utah) and
Katie Sylakowski (Jr., Escondido, Calif.) combined for nearly half (27) of Navy's 58 kills to lead the Mids to a four-set victory over Colgate Saturday afternoon at the
Wesley A. Brown Field House in Annapolis. The Mids, who had lost to the Raiders in five sets in each of the last two meetings between the teams, recorded a 25-20, 20-25, 26-24, 25-21 victory.
Navy's win improved its record in Patriot League matches to 9-5 and moves the Mids into third place in the league standings with one week of play remaining. Navy sits one win in front of both Colgate and Army, who are tied for fourth place with identical records of 8-6.
The Mids close the regular season with matches Friday at Holy Cross and the following day at Army, the Raiders will play host to American and Loyola on the final two days of the season, and Army will play host to Lafayette one night prior to facing the Mids.
"Obviously it was an important, and very rewarding match and win," said Navy head coach Larry Bock. "Colgate is one of the iconic programs in the conference, and any doors to the playoffs have to go through them. We have a lot of work to do, yet, but step one was Colgate and we passed that test."
Colgate built a 10-5 lead over Navy in the early part of the first set before taking an 11-7 advantage. The Mids promptly went on a 6-0 run to take a 13-11 lead, with Cassel tallying a pair of kills during the run. Navy slowly expanded its lead out to 16-12 on its way to taking 18-13 and 22-15 leads. Navy soon jumped in front by the score of 23-18 on a kill by Sylakowski, then Tara Dotzauer (Fr., Raleigh, N.C.) knocked down a kill to take the Mids to set point with a 24-18 cushion. A Colgate kill and a Navy attack error prolonged the set, then a Colgate attack error gave the Mids a 1-0 advantage.
Whereas the first set saw the score tied once the lead change hands on one occasion, the second set was tied 11 times and the lead was exchanged five times. The largest lead through the majority of the set was three points, and that was by Colgate and for just one play. Otherwise the teams were within one or two points of each other, including an 18-17 lead for the Raiders.
A kill by Colgate's Kathleen Harris and a Navy attack error gave the Raiders another three-point lead at 20-17, but the Mids claimed one of those points back on a Colgate service error. However, back-to-back Colgate kills followed by back-to-back Navy attack errors gave the Raiders a 24-18 lead, which was enough of a cushion to even the match at one set apiece.
As close as the second set was, the third set would prove to be even closer with 14 ties and seven lead changes. The score was knotted at 11-11 when a 3-0 run by the Raiders gave them a 14-11 lead. After the teams exchanged points (15-12), the Mids went on a 4-0 run to take a 16-14 advantage on a kill from Dotzauer. Colgate soon took a 17-16 lead, but Navy ran off the next three points to regain a 19-17 lead.
The Raiders closed to within one point of the Mids at 19-18 and 20-19, then a kill by Dotzauer and a Colgate attack error boosted Navy to a 22-19 lead and led to a timeout by the visitors. The break in the action worked as Colgate rattled off three-straight points to tie the frame at 22-22. A Colgate service error gave the Mids both the lead and the serve, after which Navy setter Star Steele (Jr., Tampa, Fla.) went back to the middle where she found Cassel who posted a kill to give Navy a 24-22 lead.
Colgate's Katie Stebbins erased Navy's first chance to win the set with a kill, then an attack error by the Mids tied the frame at 24-24. Navy regained the lead and the serve on a Colgate service error, then Maggie Phillips (Fr., Leesburg, Va.), who had just committed the prior attack error for the Mids, responded with a kill on the next point to close out the set.
Navy never trailed in the fourth set and the score wasn't tied after 1-1, but the Mids never could completely shake themselves of the Raiders. The Mids slowly built leads of 8-4, 10-5 and 13-8, then a 3-0 run gave Navy a 16-9 lead. Colgate answered right back with a 4-0 run of its own to close to within 16-13. However, Navy immediately answered with a 3-0 run to take a 19-13 lead.
After the teams traded sideouts over the next five points (21-16), Colgate scored the next two points to make the score 21-18 in favor of the Mids. The teams again exchanged points through Navy taking a 23-19 lead, then a Colgate attack error took the Mids to match point with a 24-19 advantage. Colgate posted back-to-back kills to slice the margin down to three points at 24-21, but a textbook pass off the serve from Navy libero Alli Graf (So., Annapolis, Md.) allowed Steele to set Sylakowski in the middle. With the Colgate defenders late to arrive to the middle of the net, Sylakowski emphatically sent the orb to the floor on the other side of the net to close out the match.
Though the Mids tallied 58 kills to 46 for the Raiders, Colgate held a .175-.168 advantage in hitting percentage thanks to also holding a 10-5 lead in blocks. Helping the Navy cause was its dropping in six aces to just three for the Raiders, as well as the Mids holding a 66-58 cushion in digs.
Individually, Sylakowski led all players in the match with 15 kills, while Cassel, who was honored prior to the start of the match in a Senior Day ceremony, knocked down 12 kills and hit .455. Together, the duo accounted for 27 kills on 50 swings and a .400 attack percentage.
"The middle hitters had a really good week of practice," said Bock. "Realistically, our setters were a big part of the production we had in the middle. I thought our two setters were really good. Any time we needed an important sideout, Katie and Alex were there for us."
Feeding the middle hitters well were setters Steele and Rachel Fortner (Fr., Villa Hills, Ky.). Steele dished out 26 assists while snaring 11 digs, with Fortner contributing 25 kills on offense and 13 digs on defense.
Leading all passers on the day was Graf with 22 digs.
"The comment that (Colgate) coach (Ryan) Baker had for me afterward was that he thought our libero played well," said Bock. "That's a really nice complement for Alli, in that her play was the one thing he mentioned."
Navy posted a 1-13 record in league play during Cassel's freshman season in 2011. The Mids improved to 7-7 in 2012, then were 9-7 -- the first winning record by a Navy team in six years -- in 2013. Now, the Mids are 9-5 in league play and are on the cusp of advancing to the Patriot League Tournament for the first time since 2005.
"I'm watching Alex right now," said Bock after the match, "and she is just smiling. This is her team. This is Alex's team and she played the kind of a match that is a dream senior match. What a great effort."
"I couldn't have asked for a better group of women to share this with," said Cassel. "Colgate took the match from us a few weeks ago (Navy led, 14-13, in the final set before losing, 16-14), so we wanted to take this match today. We approached this match with a great of relaxation and intensity.
"There has been a huge transformation in the program since I arrived. It is not just shown on the scoreboard, but through our practices. The players Coach Bock has brought in has turned the program around, and think it is just going to keep going in this direction."
Diane Seeley led the Colgate offense with 12 kills, while both she and Kenzie Hume tallied four blocks. Colgate libero Madison McAndrews finished the nearly two-hour contest with 17 digs.
