Final Stats

BUIES CREEK, N.C. â€" A "total team effort," according to head coach Larry Bock, carried the Navy volleyball team to a pair of victories Friday on day one of its tournament it is taking part in at Campbell in Buies Creek, N.C. The Mids improved their record to 7-1 on the season with a 3-0 win over South Carolina State (25-7, 25-10, 25-8) and a 3-1 victory over the host Camels (25-20, 27-25, 20-25, 25-23).

"We needed strong play from the entire team to come away with two wins today," said Bock, "and we received it."

Navy began its day by recording its three-set victory over South Carolina State (0-10). The Mids were the first team to reach five points in each of the three sets and trailed for a total of just three points over the course of the 63-minute match. Navy hit a sizzling .366 in the contest and limited South Carolina State to a (-).061 percentage.

Shelby McCool (Jr., Eugene, Ore.) attained career highs in the match with 11 kills and a .421 hitting percentage to go along with nine digs. Kelsey Kingsland (So., Blackwell, Mo.) also posted a career-best eight kills and .300 hitting percentage, with Ally Spencer (So., Phoenix, Ariz.) tallying 14 assists and 10 digs to record the first double-double of her career.

"Because we had such good effort from a lot of people against South Carolina State," said Bock, "we were able to play a physically strong match against Campbell. If we didn't have that, we could have hit a wall midway through the evening contest."

The Mids then faced a Campbell (3-5) team that was playing its first home match of the season Friday evening.

Navy fell behind Campbell 7-1 at the start of the first set, but tied the score at 11-11 on its way to taking a 17-12 lead. The Camels closed to within three points of the Mids at both 22-19 and 23-20, but after the latter occurrence a service error by the home team gave the visitors set point which they converted on Dorothy Murray's (Jr., Harbor City, Calif.) fifth kill of the frame.

The Mids again fell behind in the early stages of the second set, this time 6-2, but scored the next seven points to take a 9-7 lead. Navy slowly built up a 21-13 advantage only to see Campbell rally and take the lead at 25-24. Gabriela Martin (Fr., Columbus, Ohio) knocked down a kill for the Mids to tie the score at 25-25, then back-to-back kills by Gaby Smith (Sr., Norfolk, Va.) secured the second set for Navy.

Campbell held a slim lead through the majority of the third set on their way to extending the match into another frame. The Camels carried that momentum into the start of the fourth set as they led by the score of 9-3. Navy slowly chipped away at the deficit and used a 5-0 run to take a 12-11 lead. The score would be tied at every number from 12 through 21 when a block by the tandem of Martin and Patricia Mattingly (So., New Albany, Ind.) gave the Mids a 22-21 lead. A kill by Maggie Phillips (Jr., Leesburg, Va.) doubled the advantage to 23-21, which was followed by a Campbell timeout.

A kill by the Camels cut the margin in half, but a kill by Martin gave the Mids the first of two chances to win the match. A Campbell kill staved off Navy's first opportunity, but Smith knocked down a kill on the next play to conclude the nearly two-hour contest.

"Our starts to the sets weren't what we need them to be," said Bock. "But to the credit of our team, they just hung around and worked their way back into things. That's nice to be able to do, but we can't count on being able to do that all of the time.

"It turned into a match of runs by two very even teams. We were fortunate to come away with the last one."

Defense dominated the match as Navy tallied 97 digs and Campbell had just one fewer than that. The Mids also held a slim 8-5 edge in blocks. Both teams notched 58 kills with Navy's .167 hitting percentage slightly bettering the .152 mark put forth by Campbell.

Individually, six Mids posted at least seven kills with no one having more than 11. Pacing the team was Smith with that 11, while both Martin and Phillips recorded 10 kills. Murray just missed double figures by one kill, with Katie Patrick (So., Aurora, Colo.) earning eight kills and the setter Mattingly finishing with seven. Mattingly also handed out 40 assists while snaring 17 digs.

Mattingly was one of five Mids with at least 10 digs. Sydney Shearn (So., Louisville Ky.) led all players with 26, Darby Minton (So., Chino Hills, Ca.if.) had 19, Olivia Kluger (Jr., Carmel, Ind.) had 14 and Smith added 10. Patrick also led Navy with five blocks.

"We received a lot of key contributions when we really needed them by both Maggie and Tara Dotzauer (Jr., Raleigh, N,.C.)," said Bock. "Those two were really effective at crunch time and won set four for us."

Navy's seven non-league wins this season are the most in a year by the Mids since winning 12 during the 2008 season.

Navy will play just one match Saturday and it will be a 1:30 p.m. contest against East Carolina.