Sept. 6, 2014 Final Stats
CHARLOTTESVILLE, Va. -- Though the Navy volleyball team dropped a pair of four-set matches to Virginia (25-16, 24-26, 25-23, 25-20) and Long Island (25-14, 25-21, 23-25, 25-23) Saturday, the two matches concluded a strong weekend of play for the Mids at the Cavalier Classic in Charlottesville, Va.
The Mids began play at the Cavalier Classic Friday by dropping a four-set match to Alabama. Both Alabama and LIU won over 20 matches and competed in the NCAA Tournament a year ago (LIU also went to the 2012 tournament), while Virginia posted 18 wins and placed sixth in the Atlantic Coast Conference in 2013.
Of Navy's 12 sets played this weekend against the lofty foes, six were decided by three points or less and 10 were determined by no more than six points.
"In the end," said Navy head coach Larry Bock, "even though we didn't win a match this weekend, it was a productive trip for us. Our opponents had to really work hard to beat us. You could see a quiet confidence slowly growing in our team. We are really looking to springboard off of this weekend and next into the Patriot League season.
"We also learned that the only way we will win matches is to out-prepare, out-train and out-work most of the teams we will play, but from what we saw this weekend we are capable of doing just that. We have good depth and can give a lot of different looks."
The Mids trailed by just one point midway through the first set of its match against Virginia at 12-11 when the Cavaliers went on an 8-1 run to break out to a 20-12 advantage. Virginia (5-0) would outhit Navy by well over .300 points (.393-.032) to win the first set.
Virginia built an early 7-3 lead over Navy in the second set, but the Mids climbed right back into it and, just as in the first set, were within one point of the Cavs at 12-11. The Cavaliers tried to open up the margin by taking a 17-13 lead, but back came the Mids again and a Dorothy Murray (Fr., Harbor City, Calif.) kill tied the set at 19-19. Navy soon took a 21-20 lead before four consecutive sideouts made the score 23-22 in favor of the Mids. Another sideout tied the score at 23-23, then a kill by Morgan Blair gave the Cavaliers a 24-23 advantage.
After a Navy timeout, Sydney Shelton committed a service error for Virginia that tied the score at 24-24. A Virginia attack error gave the Mids a 25-24 lead, then a kill by Star Steele (Jr., Tampa, Fla.) gave the Mids the second set.
Both teams hit over .300 in the second set, and the Mids would eventually hit .343 and the Cavaliers .429 in an equally close third set in which the score would be tied 15 times and the lead change hands seven times.
The largest lead by either team in the frame came when Virginia took three-point leads at 13-10 and 15-12. After the latter score, Navy scored the ensuing four points to regain a 16-15 lead. The score would be tied at each ensuing point through 23. A Navy service error would give Virginia a 24-23 lead, then a block by the tandem of Blair and Lauren Fuller closed out the scoring in the set.
The fourth set was close in the early going until a 6-0 run by the Cavaliers gave them a 15-9 advantage. Navy quickly chipped away at the deficit and soon closed to within one point at 16-15. It was again a one-point Virginia lead at 18-17 when a short 4-1 run by the Cavaliers gave them some breathing room at 22-18. The Mids cut into the deficit at both 22-19 and 23-20, but a kill followed by another Virginia block finished out the two-hour match.
Despite holding a .351-.206 advantage in hitting percentage for the match, Virginia accrued only eight more kills than Navy did (59-51). What hurt the Mids were their committing 24 attack errors (11.0 blocks by Virginia) and forcing the Cavaliers in just 12 attack errors (5.0 blocks by Navy).
The Mids did snare more digs than the Cavaliers, 54-47, and held a slim 7-5 edge in service aces. Both teams were credited with 10 service errors.
Katie Sylakowski (Jr., Escondido, Calif.) led Navy with 13 kills and a .571 attack percentage. She committed just one attack error on her 21 swings. Navy's additional middle hitter, Alex Cassel (Sr., Sandy, Utah), had a strong match, as well, as she produced eight kills and hit .429. Both of the two players also added a pair of blocks to go along with their offensive prowess.
While Sylakowski was the lone Mid to reach double figures in kills, both Maeve Drummey (Jr., Silver Spring, Md.) and Steele finished the match with double-digit dig totals. Drummey grabbed 12 digs while Steele accounted for 11 to go along with her 39 assists.
Virginia had good balance on offense as four players tallied at least 10 kills, with Jasmin Burton knocking down a team-high 12.
"We sided out really well," said Bock. "Maeve was terrific as our libero in the second and third sets. She made all of the difference. Our middles also started to get going. It was a good effort by us."
Just as in its first match of the day, Navy allowed a significant run in the first set of its match against Long Island (3-3). The Mids trailed by the count of 9-8 when the Blackbirds went on a 6-3 run to open up a 15-11 lead. After Navy notched its 12th point of the frame, LIU scored the ensuing four to break out to a 19-12 advantage.
Hitting was a key difference in the set as LIU posted a mark of .360 and limited Navy to just .111. Navy didn't hit much better in the second set, .147, but held the Blackbirds to just a .184 percentage.
Navy slowly edged its was out to an 11-7 lead in the second set, but LIU tied the score at 15-15. After the teams traded points, the Blackbirds ran off the next four points to take a 20-16 lead. The Mids winnowed the margin down to two points at 21-19, 22-20 and 23-21, but a Long Island kill and a Navy attack error gave the Blackbirds the second set.
The Mids again opened up a slight lead in the middle part of the third set, but this time were able to maintain it for nearly the entire rest of the set. Navy quickly turned an 8-7 lead into a 14-9 advantage. LIU sliced the difference down to two points at 17-15, but another 3-0 run by the Mids gave them a five-point cushion. Navy still led by five points at 23-18 when a 5-0 run by the Blackbirds knotted the score at 23-23 and led to Bock calling a timeout. A service error gave the serve back to Navy, then Rachel Fortner (Fr., Villa Hills, Ky.) posted a kill to extend the match into a fourth set.
The score was tied 11 times in the fourth set and the lead was exchanged between the teams seven times. After the teams were tied at both 19-19 and 20-20, a Navy attack error and a Long Island kill let the Blackbirds open a two-point lead. It quickly became a 23-20 lead on a service ace. Maggie Phillips (Fr., Leesburg, Va.) tallied a kill for Navy, but that was answered by a kill from LIU to make the score 24-21. Tara Dotzauer (Fr., Raleigh, N.C.) first notched a kill for the Mids then teamed with Cassel for a block to pull Navy to within one point at 24-23. Long Island's Tamara Ignjic posted a kill of her own on the next point to thwart the Navy comeback.
The only two sizeable statistical advantages by either team came in hitting percentage and aces where LIU hit .219 to Navy's .185 and dropped in 10 aces to four for the Mids. Otherwise, the box score was very similar across the remainder of its lines.
Individually for Navy, Fortner very nearly recorded a triple-double as she accounted for 10 kills, 28 assists and eight digs. Dotzauer also chipped in eight kills and hit .500 in just three sets of playing time, while Drummey again paced Navy's backrow players with 15 digs. Defensively, both Cassel and Sylakowski contributed four blocks to the Navy effort.
"There is a reason why Long Island has gone to the last two NCAA Tournaments," said Bock, "and we saw that today. They have some good servers to go along with good height. Tara really played well.
"All of the matches this weekend were very similar for us, and in the other matches that were played as well. It was a pretty balanced tournament that was a very productive one for us. We adapted well to the speed of the ball and the vertical game that we saw. We figured things out real well as the weekend went on."
Sylakowski averaged 2.25 kills and 0.75 blocks a set while hitting .350 to be named to the all-tournament team this weekend. She also was named to the all-tournament team at last weekend's Kristen Dickmann Invitational.
Navy will close out its non-league slate of matches by competing in the Cleveland State Invitational Sept. 12-13.
