Final Stats

ANNAPOLIS, Md. â€"â€" American's blocking game allowed the Eagles to fend off the Navy volleyball team, 27-25, 25-19, 25-19, Tuesday night at the Wesley A. Brown Field House in Annapolis.

Navy (2-15, 0-4 Patriot League) and American (13-5, 5-0) each tallied 41 kills on the night and the Mids held a 49-43 edge in digs, but the Eagles posted an 8-1 advantage to help them to a .248-.167 cushion in hitting percentage which proved to be the difference in the outcome of the match.

"If we can match American in kills and hold them under .250 in hitting, we have opened the door for us," said Navy head coach Larry Bock. "We just weren't able to push through it anymore tonight. Once again, blocking remains a gigantic concern for us. We're not going to win many matches when we are minus seven in blocks."

The Eagles tried to separate themselves from the Mids midway through the first set. American turned a slim 12-11 lead into a 20-13 cushion. The Mids closed to within 20-17 only to see the Eagles edge their way out to a 24-20 advantage. A service error returned the serve to Navy, then a kill by Maggie Phillips (So., Leesburg, Va.) sliced the margin down to 24-22. After a timeout by the Eagles, an American attack error made it a one-point difference, which was followed by another kill from Phillips to tie the set at 24-24.

American regained the lead at 25-24, but Navy was able to erase that chance yet again and tie the set for the fifth time. However, the Eagles notched back-to-back points on an ace and a block to win the frame.

American used a similarly timed run midway through the second set to break open what was a 12-10 lead into an 18-10 advantage. Unlike the first set, Navy was only able to winnow the margin down to five points a couple of times.

The third set saw the score tied 13 times and the lead change hands on seven occasions. The teams were knotted at 19-19 before American notched the next six points to conclude the match.

American has not dropped a set in its five league matches this season, with the first set of tonight's match being one of just four for the Eagles that was determined by five or fewer points. Conversely, American entered the match having won five sets against league foes by at least 10 points.

"American is a very good team," said Bock, " but we can build on this type of performance against them."

It was another offense-by-committee night for the Mids as five players recorded at least five kills. Phillips joined Rachel Fortner (So., Villa Hills, Ky.) and Olivia Kluger (So., Carmel, Ind.) with a Navy-best eight kills. Defensively, Sydney Shearn (Fr., Louisville, Ky.) snared 17 digs and Patricia Mattingly (Fr., New Albany, Ind.) finished the night with 13 digs and 29 assists.

"It was really fun to see a couple of people do a lot of things really well," said Bock. "Katie Patrick (Fr., Aurora, Colo.) was solid for us (five kills in two sets), Dorothy Murray (So., Harbor City, Calif.) was a force out there (three kills and no errors in one set), and to receive an average of five-plus digs per set from Sydney is what we need from our libero. We are slowly but steadily learning how to properly use the good talent we have on this team."

Allison Cappellino's 10 kills paced American's offense, while Loren McKenzie accrued seven blocks for the Eagles.

Navy will take to the road for a pair of matches this weekend at Holy Cross Friday and Army on Saturday.