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ANNAPOLIS, Md. -- A fifth-set closing 4-0 run by the Navy volleyball team that included erasing a pair of match points against the Mids gave then a dramatic victory over Bucknell Saturday afternoon at the Wesley A. Brown Field House in Annapolis. Navy edged the Bison, 23-25, 25-15, 25-18, 21-25, 16-14.

"We didn't like the way we started the match," said Navy head coach Larry Bock, "but we did like how we finished. I don't necessarily think we are satisfied with how we played the whole time, but I am really pleased we were able to get a win."

The Mids (5-7, 2-1 Patriot League) quickly scored the opening three points of the final set, but the Bison (2-10, 1-3 Patriot League) responded by scoring the ensuing six points. Navy went on a 4-0 run to regain the lead at 7-6, only to see Bucknell answer with a 3-0 run to take a 9-7 lead. Back-to-back points by the Mids tied the frame at 9-9, then the score would be knotted at 10-10, 11-11 and 12-12.

Bucknell's Erika Eastley and Jordan Walker combined for a block to give the Bison a 13-12 lead, then the duo teamed up for another block to give them a 14-12 lead and their first match point. That opportunity was erased on a ball-handling error, then Katie Sylakowski (Jr., Escondido, Calif.) recorded a block of her own to tie the set at 14-14. Each team had two swings on the next point, with Navy's latter attempt by Rachel Fortner (Fr., Villa Hills, Ky.) finding the floor to give the Mids a 15-14 advantage. Shelby McCool (Fr., Eugene, Ore.) dropped back to the service line again, and her offering was gathered in by Jordan Walker, whose pass sent setter Meghan Wentzel into the net to end the two-hour match.

Navy recorded nine kills in the fifth set to just two for Bucknell, but the Mids committed eight attack errors -- five were the result of blocks -- to two for the Bison in the frame. The Mids also had two service errors and a pair of ball handling errors in the set, with the Bison recording zero service errors but three ball handling errors.

Bucknell opened the first set by scoring five of the first six points of the match and opening up a lead of a 13-6. Navy closed to within a pair of points at 13-11, 21-19 and 23-21 before a McCool kill made it just a one-point difference. Eastley and Sylakowski posted kills for their respective teams to make the score 24-23, then a McCool service error ended the set.

The second set was tied at 10-10 when a kill by Fortner allowed Sofia Luczak (So., Aiea, Hawaii) to drop back to serve with an 11-10 lead. Her final serve was with Navy holding a 19-11 advantage, which provided more than enough of a cushion to give the Mids the second set.

Luczak was in the middle of a key run by the Mids in the third set as she began serving with Navy holding a 12-9 lead and ended it with the Mids in front by the score of 15-9. Bucknell closed to within two points of Navy at 16-14 when an Alex Cassel (Sr., Sandy, Utah) kill from setter Star Steele (Jr., Tampa, Fla.) ignited a short 3-0 run that gave Navy a 19-14 lead. The Mids led by at least four points the rest of the way in building a 2-1 lead.

Bucknell showed a great sense of urgency in the fourth set in jumping out to a 6-3 lead and expanding it to 12-6 and 17-10 before the Mids rallied and closed to within 20-18 on an ace by Steele. The teams traded sideouts over the next four points (22-20), then the Bison scored the next two points on a kill and Navy attack error to take a 24-20 lead. A Bucknell service error wiped away its first chance to win the set, but an Eastley kill on the next point sent the match into a fifth set.

Navy had more kills than Bucknell did in four of the five sets, but committed more attack errors in three sets and the same number of attack errors in one frame. Altogether, the Mids posted 71 kills and 25 errors (.260) to 49 and 19 (.184) for the Bison. One of the reason for Navy's attack errors was the Bucknell defense as the Bison produced 13.0 blocks to just 6.0 for the Mids.

The Mids did hold a 7-2 lead in service aces, but that came with a 10-6 lead in service errors. Navy also held a 81-72 advantage in digs.

Navy's offense had good balance as six Mids had at least 20 attempts -- including the three-rotation setter and three-rotation hitter Fortner. Five of those six players also reached double figures in kills -- Sylakowski, 14; McCool, 13; Fortner and Cassel, 11; Tara Dotzauer (Fr., Raleigh, N.C.), 10.

Fortner also keyed the Navy defense as she snared a team-high 23 digs which, along with her 24 assists gave her a triple-double on the night. Steele, who set the Mids when Fortner was hitting, posted a double-double of her own with 26 assists and 12 digs. Also notching a double-double was libero Maeve Drummey (Jr., Silver Spring, Md.) with 12 assists and 18 digs.

"Our right-side and middle hitters really carried the day for us," said Bock. "And Shelby was very instrumental in bringing us back from that horrific start to the first set to getting us competitive in it. That really propelled us in the rest of the match."

Eastley had a great match for the Bison as she posted a team-high 12 kills to go along with a match-best eight blocks.

Navy will take to the road this coming week for its only match away from Annapolis in a span of five contests when the Mids play Friday at Colgate.