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ANNAPOLIS, Md. â€"â€" Dorothy Murray (Jr., Harbor City, Calif.) tied a season high with 12 kills to help lead the Navy volleyball team to three-set victory over Bucknell Saturday afternoon at the Wesley A. Brown Field House in Annapolis. The Mids (11-3, 1-1 Patriot League) recorded a 25-17, 25-18, 25-22 victory over the Bison (2-12, 0-2).

"This was a very good, and very important, bounce back match for us," said Navy head coach Larry Bock of today's effort after the Mids lost in four sets to Lehigh Friday night. "It is nice to salvage a weekend with a win, but it is even nicer to salvage a weekend by playing well in a win. We have to use this performance to springboard us to next week."

Murray made her presence felt from very early in the match as she accounted for three of Navy's first six points of the opening set with kills. That effort helped the Mids out to an 8-3 lead, but the margin soon slipped to just one point at 8-7. The gap between the teams hovered between one and four points until a 3-0 run gave Navy an 18-13 cushion. The Mids would soon build a 23-16 lead on their way to claiming the first set.

A poor start to the second set by the Mids had them fighting uphill for most of the first half of the frame. Bucknell held an early 4-1 lead and took an advantage of as many as four points at 9-5. The Bison soon held a 14-12 lead when a 3-0 spurt by the Mids gave them their first lead of the set at 15-14. Navy scored those three points on a kill by Gabriela Martin (Fr., Columbus, Ohio), a kill by setter Patricia Mattingly (So., New Albany, Ind.) and a Bucknell attack error. After a Bison kill tied the score, Bucknell gave the ball and the lead right back to Navy with a service error. That miscue was followed by a kill by Shelby McCool (Jr., Eugene, Ore.) and another Bucknell attack error (18-15).

After Navy's lead winnowed down to one point at 19-18, Katie Patrick (So., Aurora, Colo.) posted a kill to give the Mids a two-point lead. It advantage grew to four points on a block by Murray and then a Murray kill. After a Bucknell timeout, Mattingly dropped in an ace, then Patrick and then McCool recorded solo blocks to give Navy a 2-0 advantage in sets.

The Mids tried to separate themselves from the Bison early in the third set, but Navy's 7-3 lead was erased and the teams were tied at 12-12. Navy never trailed but never led by more than two points over the next few serves until the teams were knotted at 18-18. After a Navy timeout, Murray broke the tie with a kill, then a ball-handling error by the Bison gave the Mids a 20-18 lead. The Bison called timeout, but the Navy run grew to three in a row when McCool dropped in a service ace.

Back-to-back attack errors by the Mids made the score 21-20, but Mattingly again went to Murray and she again delivered with a kill to make it a two-point difference. Bucknell drew to within one point of Navy with a kill, but Murray posted another kill to make the score 23-21 in favor of the Mids. Her effort was followed by Darby Minton (So., Chino Hills, Calif.) recording a service ace to take Navy to match point with a 24-22 lead. Minton committed a service error to slice the margin in half, but the Mids converted on their next opportunity to win the match when Sofia Hruby (Fr., Austin, Texas) blocked back a Bucknell overpass to the ground.

"The block was tighter and more disciplined for us today then it was last night," said Bock. "That generated both blocks and digs for us. We also didn't get caught in too many tough rotations. We sided out real well (67% for the match, including 72% in set two and 73% in set three)."

Navy's offense totaled 42 kills and a .252 hitting percentage, while its defense limited Bucknell to 34 kills and a .132 hitting afternoon. While both teams snared a nearly identical number of digs â€"â€" 46-43 advantage for the Mids â€"â€" Navy posted 10 blocks to just 5 for Bucknell. Additionally, the Mids accrued five aces without allowing an ace to any Bison server.

Murray finished the 102-minute match with 12 kills and a .333 attack percentage. She previously posted 12 kills this season in a four-set contest, and her effort today was the most kills she has recorded in her career in a three-set contest. Murray also totaled three blocks in the match.

"Dorothy was a real force out there with both her attacking and her blocking," said Bock.

Other offensive standouts included Patrick with seven kills and a .312 attack percentage, as well as McCool who, in her one and one-half sets of playing time tallied five kills and a .400 attack percentage.

Mattingly did a nice job of spreading the ball around as four Mids tallied at least five kills and six had at least 10 swings. She would finish the victory with 29 assists and a Navy-best 12 digs. When Mattingly was out of the offense due to her passing, Shearn and Minton took her place adequately as the duo combined to hand out nine assists.

Defensively for Navy besides Mattingly, Shearn grabbed 10 digs and McCool finished with eight, while Patrick had four blocks and Martin had two.

"Shelby was a great spark for us in the limited time she was on the court," said Bock. "I thought Sydney was exceptional. Bucknell is a very good offensive team and she came away with some real hard digs at key moments. Sydney also filled in well when Patricia was taken out of the play, and Patricia did another good job of going to different people."

Sophie Bullard's eight kills led the Bucknell offense, while Kristen Parks grabbed a team-high 12 digs and Erika Eastley finished with four blocks.

Navy will play its first road match of the league season Friday when the Mids play at Colgate.