Final Stats

WEST POINT, N.Y. â€"â€" Army West Point rallied from a 2-0 deficit in sets to defeat the Navy volleyball team Saturday night at Gillis Field House in West Point, N.Y., in the annual Star Match, presented by USAA, between the teams. The Black Knights (13-8, 6-2 Patriot League) posted a 20-25, 20-25, 25-21, 34-32, 15-12 victory over the Mids (17-4, 7-1) in a match that lasted over two and one-half hours.

"We definitely had our chances, that's for sure," said Navy head coach Larry Bock. "We are going to have a hard time beating anyone when we finish behind in both kills and digs. I thought we served well the entire night, but didn't get a pass to our setter in an ideal position as much as we would have wanted."

Army, which totaled more kills than Navy did in each of the five sets, posted 17 more kills on the night (84-67) and held a 116-107 advantage in digs. This is despite Navy's Sydney Shearn (Jr., Louisville, Ky.) hauling in a school-record 46 digs (previous record was 35).

Army held a 17-15 lead in the first set until a 5-0 run gave Navy a 20-17 lead. After a point by the Black Knights, the Mids scored the ensuing two points to take a 22-18 lead. The teams played sideout volleyball the rest of the set to give the Mids the 1-0 lead.

The second set saw the Mids use a 5-1 run to take a 22-17 advantage. Army would close to within 23-20 before back-to-back points gave Navy the second set.

Set number three was tied at 12-12 when Army went on a 5-0 run to take a 17-12 lead. Navy slowly chipped away at the deficit and closed to within 21-19, but the Black Knights scored the ensuing two points to regain a four-point lead.

Navy took a 12-7 lead in the early stages of set four, still held a 17-12 lead midway through the frame and took a 22-19 lead late. Army scored the next three points to tie the score at 22-22. The Mids soon reached match point with a 24-23 lead, only to see the Black Knights run off the next three points to take a 25-24 lead. Navy would serve for the match at 27-26 and 31-30, but Army, on its seventh opportunity to serve for the set, finally converted to force a fifth set.

The Mids scored the opening three points of the fifth set before the Black Knights tied the stanza at 6-6. The score would be tied again at 7-7, 8-8 and 9-9 before Navy took a slim 11-9 lead. The advantage would be 12-10 before the Black Knights closed the match on a 5-0 run.

"Army made some lineup changes after the second set," said Bock. "It gave them a little more speed and energy."

Army ended the night with a .273-.228 advantage in hitting percentage, with Navy holding leads in aces (9-2) and blocks (8-4).

Tara Dotzauer (Sr., Raleigh, N.C.) led Navy with 22 kills, Maddi Sgattoni (Fr., Pittsburgh, Pa.) posted 14 kills, Katie Patrick (Jr., Aurora, Colo.) had 12 kills and five blocks and Sarena Seelbach (So., Chapel Hill, N.C.) had 11 kills. Maggie Phillips (Sr., Leesburg, Va.) snared 21 digs and Patricia Mattingly (Jr., New Albany, Ind.) recorded 51 assists, 15 digs and three aces.

The matches in the Patriot League this weekend closed out the first half of the league campaign. The Mids are now tied with American for first place atop the league standings with identical 7-1 records. Navy will play Friday at American and Saturday at Loyola to start the second half of the league season.

Patriot League Standings
T1 â€" 7-1 â€" Navy
T1 â€" 7-1 â€" American
3 â€" 6-2 â€"Army West Point
4 â€" 5-3 â€"Lehigh
5 â€" 4-4 â€" Bucknell
6 â€" 3-5 â€" Loyola
T7 â€" 2-6 â€" Lafayette
T7 â€" 2-6 â€" Colgate
9 â€" 0-8 â€" Holy Cross