Final Stats

ANNAPOLIS, Md. â€"â€" Balance on both offense and defense sparked the Navy volleyball team to a three-set victory over Army West Point Friday night at the Wesley A. Brown Field House in the annual Star Match between the two programs. The Mids (12-5, 2-3 Patriot League) defeated the Black Knights (11-8, 3-2), 25-19, 25-17, 25-16 before a boisterous overflow crowd of over 1,000 in Navy's home venue.

The match was part of the Army-Navy Star Series presented by USAA. Navy holds a 3-1 lead in the series thus far this fall.

Navy had three players finish with 13 kills, three different players grab 13 digs and four players record multiple blocks.

"I thought our team was as good as they have been this year," said Navy head coach Larry Bock, whose Mids swept Army in the Star Match for the second time in three years. "But it has been kind of a nice steady rise in our level of play over the last week or so. The American match (Navy lost in four sets Tuesday) was a real springboard for us. I thought the team really pulled it together in practice after that. They practiced really hard Wednesday and Thursday and had a nice crescendo tonight."

"This means so much to the team," said Dorothy Murray (Jr., Harbor City, Calif.). "We have worked so hard for this since pre-season. Army had beaten Colgate this year and we had lost to them, so we were a little nervous, but we really brought it all together tonight."

Navy quickly jumped out to a 6-2 lead at the start of the first set. The Black Knights cut that four-point lead in half (6-4), but the Mids answered by opening up a 12-5 advantage. Navy would lead by as many as nine points on its way to claiming the first frame.

Navy started the second set by scoring four of the first five points, only to see Army tie the score at 6-6 and build leads of 11-7 and 12-9. Back came the Mids in a hurry and they tied the score at 12-12 on a block by Murray and took a 13-12 lead when Maggie Phillips (Jr., Leesburg, Va.) and Katie Patrick (So., Aurora, Colo.) combined for another block. After an Army kill tied the set again, three-straight kills by Navy gave the Mids a 16-13 lead. Navy would edge its way out to a 21-15 cushion before closing the set on a 3-0 run to take a 2-0 advantage.

Army put together its best start to a set in the third set. The visitors rattled off four of the first five points in building a slim 5-3 lead. Navy would answer with a 6-0 spurt to take the lead at 9-5. Army winnowed the margin down to as few as two points at 10-8, but three-straight points by the Mids gave them a 13-8 cushion. After back-to-back points by the Black Knights made the score 13-10, Navy went on a 4-0 run to build a 17-10 lead on its way to reaching match point with a 24-16 advantage.

"So much of the balance comes from the setter," said Bock. "Patricia Mattingly (So., New Albany, Ind.) was right on for the majority of this match. She ran a really good offense. There are very few vulnerabilities with the people at the top of the Patriot League, of which Army is one. Patricia exploited the seams, the high blocks and the floating blocks. When she found a hot hitter, she kept going to that person."

The Mids trailed for just 18 points in the match: one point in the first set (1-0), nine points in the second set (last was 12-11) and eight points in the third set (last was 5-4). Conversely, Navy led for a total of 84 points and the score was tied eight times.

"The crowd was worth a lot of points," said Bock. "The crowd, and the mids in particular, they were worth a truckload of points for us."

"It was amazing in here," said Gaby Smith (Sr., Virginia Beach, Va.). "I love this time of year. Everyone comes out to cheer us on. It is just a great atmosphere to be around and play in."

"It was crazy," said Murray. "Everyone was just roaring and that really boosted our confidence up."

Navy hit .377 on the night, which featured it hitting .500 (15 kills, 1 attack error, 28 attempts) in the second set. Defensively, the Mids limited Army to a .145 attack percentage in the match. Navy also held statistical advantages over Army in digs (54-37) and blocks (8-3).

Phillips, Murray and Smith each posted 13 kills and all hit well over .300 for the night. Defensively, Mattingly, libero Sydney Shearn (So., Louisville, Ky.) and defensive specialist Darby Minton (So., Chino Hills, Calif.) each grabbed 13 digs. Additionally, Murray finished with four blocks â€"â€" three solo efforts â€"â€" Phillips had three blocks and middle hitters Gabriela Martin (Fr., Columbus, Ohio) and Patrick each had two blocks.

"Very clearly," said Bock, "Darby sent a message early that nothing was going to hit the floor. Darby was real instrumental in the win. She had 13 digs in the 'one' (position on the floor) and to beat Army you have to dig in the 'one.'"

"Our defense was relentless," said Smith. "Sydney, Darby, Olivia Kluger (Jr., Carmel, Ind.), Patricia; everyone who played back row was 'on.' We couldn't run our offense without them."

"Our defense was really good," said Murray. "We really passed well and Patricia was able to get it to the hitters with just one blocker."

Army was led offensively by Carolyn Bockrath with 10 kills and a .429 attack percentage. Defensively, Amber Clay snared 10 digs and Olivia Fairfield had a pair of blocks.

"We didn't have an answer for Bockrath," said Bock. "She is very, very good. But we survived the rest of the team."

Navy will not have long to rest on its laurels as the Mids will be back on the court Saturday when they play host to Holy Cross at 7:30 p.m.