Final Stats

ANNAPOLIS, Md. â€"â€" Strong starts throughout the match helped propel the Navy volleyball team to a four-set victory over Holy Cross Friday night at the Hart Center in Worcester, Mass. The Mids (18-7, 8-5 Patriot League) recorded a 25-19, 22-25, 25-12, 25-19 victory over the Crusaders (7-19, 3-10).

The victory allows Navy to move one full game in front of Lehigh in the league standings. The Mids are currently in fourth place while the Mountain Hawks sit in fifth place with a 7-6 record. Navy will play at third-place Army West Point (9-4) Saturday, which is the same day Lehigh will play host to first-place American. Only the top-four teams at the end of the regular season advance to the Patriot League Tournament.

"It was an odd match," said Navy head coach Larry Bock, whose Mids have now doubled their overall victory total (18) from all of the 2015 season (9). "It came down to ball control. Our passing and serving were instrumental in us winning this important match."

Navy jumped out to a 10-4 lead in the first set only to see Holy Cross climb to within two points at 17-15. A kill by Gabriela Martin (Fr., Columbus, Ohio) made the score 18-15, then she and setter Patricia Mattingly (So., New Albany, Ind.) combined for a block to make it 19-15. A Holy Cross attack error gave the Mids a five-point cushion and an eventual 1-0 lead.

The second set was similar to the first in that Navy built an early advantage. This time the Mids led by the score of 9-3, but a Holy Cross run tied the frame at 10-10. The teams exchanged points (11-11), then the Crusaders went on a mini run of three-straight points to take a 14-11 lead. Holy Cross would hold a lead of between one and three points over the remainder of the set to tie the match at a set apiece.

"Holy Cross attacks the ball really well," said Bock. "We fell into some passing and hitting errors in the middle of the second set. We were not as patient as we needed to be. It seemed as if we were trying to win the game on one swing. Then the Holy Cross servers warmed up and really got going. They put the pressure on us in a number of ways."

Navy quickly took control of the third set by building leads of 10-4 and 17-5 on its way to taking a 2-1 advantage.

The fourth set was tied at 5-5 when the Mids went on an 8-1 run to take a 13-6 lead. The margin would remain at least five points as Navy won the set to close out the nearly two-hour match.

"It was nice to see us regroup the way we did after dropping the second set," said Bock.

Though Navy outscored Holy Cross 97-75 in points, the Mids held just a 46-43 advantage over the Crusaders in kills. However, Navy outhit Holy Cross, .207-.075, as the Mids accrued just 17 attack errors on 140 swings and forced the Crusaders into 30 attack errors on 173 attempts. Navy also held an 88-73 lead in digs and a 10-4 edge in blocks.

Individually, it was another night of great balance for the Mids as six players had at least 10 attempts and five totaled between six and nine kills. Maggie Phillips (Jr., Leesburg, Va.) led the offense with nine kills, Tara Dotzauer (Jr., Raleigh, N.C.) had eight, Martin and fellow middle hitter Sarena Seelbach (Fr., Chapel Hill, N.C.) each had seven and Gaby Smith (Sr., Virginia Beach, Va.) had six.

In addition to dishing out 36 assists, Mattingly also snared a team-high 19 digs. It was her 23rd career double-double for assists and digs, which is the most by a Mid during the 16-year rally scoring era. Among the other Navy passers, Smith had 17 digs, Sydney Shearn (So., Louisville, Ky.) totaled 16, Olivia Kluger (Jr., Carmel, Ind.) notched 12 and Darby Minton (So., Chino Hills, Calif.) had 10. Also, Katie Patrick (So., Aurora, Colo.) posted four blocks while Phillips and Seelbach each tallied three.

"Gaby was really good tonight," said Bock. "She didn't have a ton of kills, but each one she had came at a critical time when we needed one. Maggie did well too. She took care of the ball and delivered when her chances arose. And our middle hitters, Gabriela, Katie and Sarena, did well even though the Holy Cross defense was really keying on them."

Mandy Sifferlen led all offensive players in the match with 22 kills, while her Holy Cross teammate M.C. Magner totaled 28 digs.

Saturday's match at West Point will begin at 7 p.m. Links to free live video and live statistics from the match can be found at NavySports.com. The Mids defeated the Black Knights in three sets earlier this season in the Star Match between the programs.

Patriot League Standings (Remaining Matches)
1. 14-0 American (at Lehigh, at Loyola)
2. 11-3 Colgate (Loyola, at Lafayette)
3. 9-4 Army West Point (Navy, Lehigh, Bucknell)
4. 8-5 Navy (at Army West Point, at Lafayette, at Loyola)
5. 7-6 Lehigh (at American, at Army West Point, at Holy Cross)
T6. 3-10 Holy Cross (Lafayette, Bucknell, Lehigh)
T6. 3-10 Loyola (at Colgate, at American, Navy)
8. 3-11 Bucknell (at Holy Cross, at Army West Point)
9. 2-11 Lafayette (at Holy Cross, Colgate, Navy)