Final Stats

LORETTO, Pa. â€"â€" The month-long slate of tournaments for the Navy volleyball team came to a close Saturday with the Mids posting sweeps of both Saint Francis U. and Eastern Kentucky to give the Mids the Red Flash Classic championship. Navy did not drop a set this weekend â€"â€" the Mids defeated Iona Friday night â€"â€" which was capped on Saturday with a 25-15, 25-13, 25-21 win over the Red Flash and a 25-17, 25-22, 25-16 victory over the Colonels.

The Mids end their non-Patriot League campaign with a 10-2 record. Navy last posted double-digit wins against non-league foes in 2008 when it won 12. The Mids also posted a 3-0 record at the UMES Classic over Labor Day weekend to share the tourney crown with American.

"This was a productive month for us," said Navy head coach Larry Bock. "All of our players were able to see competitive action, and they all produced when called upon. We took care of business when we needed to and split our four toughest matches. Now, we have to carry this momentum over into the league season, all the while continuing to grow."

Navy's day began with its victory over Saint Francis (3-9). The Mids turned a slim 6-5 lead at the start of the first set into more comfortable advantages of 13-7 and 18-9 on their way to claiming the frame. Navy took control of the second set even earlier by jumping out to a quick 8-3 lead that quickly expanded out to a 17-9 margin.

The Red Flash held an early lead of 6-3 in the third set, but the Mids ran off the next seven points to jump in front, 10-7. The margin hovered between two and four points until a 4-0 run by Navy gave it a 20-14 lead. Back came the home team with a 6-0 spurt of its own to tie the frame at 20-20. Maggie Phillips (Jr., Leesburg, Va.) dropped in a kill for the Mids to break the tie, then setter Paige Miles (Fr., Oklahoma City, Okla.) intentionally back-set the ball over the net and into the open floor just inside of the boundary line to double the lead out to 22-20. Back-to-back attack errors by Saint Francis took the Mids to match point with a 24-20 lead. The Red Flash staved off one point with a kill, but then another Saint Francis attack error gave the Mids to set and the match.

Despite hitting .045 in the third set, Navy still hit at a .196 clip for the match. Defensively, the Mids limited Saint Francis to hitting percentages of .053, .025 and (-).022, respectively, in the three sets and to an overall mark of .016. Navy's serving again played a role in the victory as the Mids totaled six aces and four errors while the Red Flash tallied two aces and six errors from the service line.

Shelby McCool (Jr., Eugene, Ore.) continued her strong final season for Navy by posting 12 kills, hitting .346 and grabbing nine digs. The 11 kills fell one short of tying her career-best effort of 12, which came in a five-set contest. Darby Minton (So., Chino Hills, Calif.) snagged 22 kills to lead all players in the match, while both Katie Patrick (So., Aurora, Colo.) and Gabriela Martin (Fr., Columbus, Ohio) tallied a trio of blocks.

"Shelby was lights out as both a hitter and passer," said Bock. "And we were able to use a lot of people against a good team (Navy defeated Saint Francis in four sets one year ago), which kept us really fresh heading into our second match."

After a break of less than two hours, the Mids were back on the court against Eastern Kentucky (5-7). Navy carried over its momentum into the first set as it jumped out to a 9-4 lead that soon became a 20-9 advantage.

The second set was much closer as the score was tied 10 times and the lead changed hands three times. Navy went on a 4-0 run to build a 17-14 lead that soon became a 21-16 cushion. EKU responded with a 6-0 spurt to take a 22-21 lead. Dorothy Murray (Jr., Harbor City, Calif.) tied the score with a kill, then an attack error by the Colonels gave Navy a 23-22 lead. The lead grew to 24-22 on a kill by Martin, then an EKU attack error gave the second set to the Mids.

Navy jumped on EKU at the start of the third set by scoring eight of the first 10 points of the frame. The Colonels responded by closing to within two points at 14-12. An administrative timeout was called to check the EKU lineup, and after a 30-minute break the Colonels were determined to have been out of rotation and the two-point Navy lead grew to four points at 14-10. In a matter of moments Navy doubled that margin to eight points at 18-10, which was enough for Navy to separate fully and close out the match.

Navy hit .349 in the match and held EKU to a mark of .183. The Colonels had six more attempts than the Mids did (115-109), but Navy had 10 more kills (48-38) and seven fewer attack errors (17-10).

Phillips and Murray both notched 10 kills for the Mids, with Murray recording just one attack error on her 15 swings for a hitting percentage of .600. Patrica Mattingly (So., New Albany, Ind.) handed out 36 assists while adding six kills and nine digs. Sydney Shearn (So., Louisville, Ky.) grabbed 17 digs for Navy's passers.

"We really came out firing on all cylinders," said Bock. "Eastern Kentucky has a really good offense with a good setter and strong hitters. We really played well. Our outside hitters especially."

Both Phillips and Gaby Smith (Jr., Virginia Beach, Va.) were named to the all-tournament team.

Navy now sets its sights on its Patriot League season, which opens up Friday when the Mids play host to Lehigh.