Final Stats

BALTIMORE, Md. â€"â€" The Navy volleyball team closed its 2015 campaign by posting a three-set (25-19, 25-20, 25-20) victory over Loyola Saturday afternoon at Reitz Arena in Baltimore.

The victory was Navy's third in a row â€"â€" the Mids lost just one set (by two points) in their last three matches â€"â€" and ended the season with a 7-3 record over the last 10 matches. That 7-3 record was tied for the second-best record over the final 10 matches in the league this season and allowed the Mids to end the season in sixth place in the standings.

Included in those final 10 matches was a three-set loss to Army West Point in which each of the sets were decided by just two points and a four-set loss to first-place American in which the Mids were just the second team to win a set from the Eagles in league play.

"There is no question the way we finished the season was real impressive," said Navy head coach Larry Bock. "We were hard to beat in these final few weeks."

The Mids (9-20, 7-9 Patriot League) held just a one-point lead in the first set over the Greyhounds (6-25, 1-15) at 9-8 when a quick 3-0 run gave them a little breathing room at 12-8. The score was soon 13-10 in favor of the Mids when they tallied seven of the next eight points to build a 20-11 advantage on their way to eventually taking a 23-14 lead and winning the set.

The second set was tied at 13-13 when a 5-0 run that included a pair of service aces from Rachel Fortner (So., Villa Hills, Ky.) gave Navy an 18-13 advantage. Loyola answered and soon took a 19-18 lead. The score was tied at 20-20 when Fortner set setter Patricia Mattingly (Fr., New Albany, Ind.) for a kill to break the tie. That was followed by Mattingly setting Gaby Smith (Jr., Virginia Beach, Va.) for a kill, with that pairing repeated on the ensuing two plays to boost Navy out to a 24-20 lead. The set came to an end when Sydney Shearn (Fr., Louisville, Ky.) dropped in a service ace.

What would prove to be the final set of the match â€"â€" and season â€"â€"followed a similar script as sets one and two did. Loyola took an early lead â€"â€" 4-1 in sets one and two, 3-1 in set three â€"â€" before being caught by Navy a few points later. Loyola then held a 13-12 lead when a 5-0 Navy burst gave the visitors a 17-13 advantage, which soon grew to 20-14. Neither team scored more than two consecutive points over the remainder of the set, which resulted in the Mids closing out the contest on a kill by Tara Dotzauer (So., Raleigh, N.C.).

"We had some people come into the third set and really slam the door for us," said Bock. "Tara and Shelby McCool (So., Eugene, Ore.) both lit it up for us in that last set when we were going against a great effort by Loyola. Those two really made a difference."

Both offenses played well. Navy tallied 44 kills and just 11 errors to end the afternoon with a .297 attack percentage while Loyola posted 39 kills and 13 attack errors for a hitting percentage of .234. Both teams had six blocks in the match, but Navy snared 55 digs and dropped in 10 aces while Loyola registered 44 digs and two aces.

"On paper," said Bock, "this match looks similar to our match Friday at Lafayette (also a 3-0 win by Navy). But it doesn't show just how well Loyola played today. Their hitting numbers do show that. We really had to sideout well and score points when we served. Rachel especially served the heck out of the ball. And to have 10 percent of our attacks be errors (11 errors on 111 swings) is a major milestone for us. We just hit the ball hard and high and well."

Smith tallied 14 kills and a .435 hitting percentage, Fortner had two aces and 14 digs, Katie Patrick (Fr., Aurora, Colo.) had eight kills and six blocks, while Mattingly dished out 33 assists and was one of six Mids to register at least one ace.

Though Dotzauer and McCool played just the third set, McCool had five kills, no errors and a ,625 hitting percentage, with McCool totaling four kills on eight swings for a .375 hitting performance.

Loyola's Molly Chichosz had 11 kills to lead the offense for the home team.

Navy loses just one player off of this year's team, defensive specialist Maeve Drummey (Sr., Silver Spring, Md.).