Final Stats

ANNAPOLIS, Md. ---- Katie Patrick (Jr., Aurora, Colo.) capped a great all-around night with solo blocks on the last two points of the match to help the Navy volleyball team (4-0) record a four-set victory over Air Force Wednesday evening at Alumni Hall in Annapolis. The Mids defeated the Falcons by set scores of 25-18, 23-25, 25-13 and 28-26.

Navy's 4-0 record to the year is the second-best start by the Mids over the last 13 seasons. The lone time a Navy team bettered that in this span was in 2008 when that team began the year with a 5-0 record.

"I think Katie put this team on her shoulders in a big way," said Navy head coach Larry Bock. "It was really important that we had somebody who just said `I own this match, I want this match, I'm going to compete like crazy.' Katie did just that for us tonight."

"I think we came into this season ready to play," said Patrick. "I think we were all very ready to have our effort finally pay off. Getting together before the season began and working hard in practice every day have definitely helped. Even tonight, with not everyone playing at the top of their game, we still were able to grind out a win. I think that shows the effort is paying off."

Air Force held a 17-15 lead over Navy in the first set, but a service error by the Falcons sliced the lead in half and gave the Mids the serve. A pair of kills by Maggie Phillips (Sr., Leesburg, Va.) sandwiched around an Air Force hitting error made the score 19-17 in favor of Navy and led to a timeout being called by the Falcons. Air Force notched a kill on the next point (19-18), but Patrick ended the ensuing point with a kill to give a two-point lead (20-18) and the serve back to Navy. Patrick dropped back to the service line and she never left as the Mids were able to run the table on a kill from Dorothy Murray (Sr., Harbor City, Calif.), a block by the tandem of Phillips and Sarena Seelbach (So., Chapel Hill, N.C.), consecutive kills by Murray and Phillips and an Air Force hitting error.

The Falcons jumped out to a 6-2 lead at the start of the second set, but Navy tied the score at 9-9. That would be the first of eight more ties, with the last one coming at 22-22. Air Force's Abigail Miksch posted a kill to break the tie, then teammate Denise Ssozi recorded a kill to take the Falcons to set point with a 24-22 lead. A Seelbach kill erased one set point opportunity, but another Ssozi kill ended the second frame.

Navy rattled off each of the first four and nine of the first 12 points of the third set and never looked back in winning the frame. The Mids hit a blistering .667 (14 kills, 0 attack errors, 21 swings) and limited the Falcons to a mark of .069 (9 kills, 7 errors, 29 swings) during the stanza.

Air Force responded by scoring the initial five points of the fourth set, which led to an early timeout being called by Bock. The margin would still be five points at 10-5, but Navy slowly chipped away at it and eventually went on a 3-0 run to take an 18-17 lead.

"One thing we have been building is our toughness," said Patrick. "Regardless of what is going on around us, we want to make sure we are keeping that internal level of play and mental stability. I've seen that in both matches and practices. You can feel it in the gym."

The score would be tied at 19-19, 20-20 and 21-21 when a kill by Phillips gave the Mids a 22-21 lead. She and Seelbach promptly teamed up for another block to make the score 23-21. After a passing error by the Mids cut the lead in half, the Falcons committed an attack error to take Navy to match point with a 24-22 lead.

That opportunity was erased by a Navy hitting error, then the second try for the Mids to win the match was saved by Air Force with a Ssozi kill. Navy regained the lead at 25-24 on a Seelbach kill only to see Ssozi tie the frame with a kill of her own. Air Force reached set point (26-25) on a block by the duo of Piper Heineck and Shanleigh Conlan, but a kill by setter Patricia Mattingly (Jr., New Albany, Ind.) tied the frame for the ninth time at 26-26. Patrick then blocked Abigail Miksch to give Navy a 27-26 lead, and followed with a block of Heineck to close out the match.

"That's always fun," said Patrick on ending the match with consecutive blocks. "But I wouldn't have been able to do it without my pin blockers being ready."

"I'm going to have to go back and watch the film to see what happened in the end game," said Bock in discussing the fourth-set rallies, "but I know (assistant coach) Megan Shifflett made a couple of defensive adjustments with our middle-back player where we got some digs toward the end. They just played a real mature set and kind of worked their way back into the set one point at a time. Probably another sign of a mature team that we were able to win at crunch time."

Navy's offense totaled 62 kills and a .371 attack percentage ---- the second-best hitting night by the Mids in a four-set match in school history ---- while its defense limited Air Force to tallies of 54 kills and a .169 hitting percentage. Navy's defense finished with 50 digs (to 45 for Air Force) and 14.0 blocks (to 4.0 by the Falcons).

Patrick tied a career high with 12 kills and committed just one attack error on 19 attempts for a .579 attack percentage, while adding a career-best eight blocks (three solo). The eight blocks places her in a tie for fifth place in Navy history for the most by a Mid in a four-set match.

Patrick was one of four Navy hitters to reach double figures in kills. Phillips and Maddi Sgattoni (Fr., Pittsburgh, Pa.) each posted 11 kills and Murray finished with 10 kills (and a .364 hitting percentage. Mattingly accounted for 29 assists and fellow setter Paige Miles (So., Oklahoma City, Okla.) dished out 22 assists.

Defensively for the Mids, Shearn snared a team-high 11 digs, Sgattoni and Olivia Kluger (Sr., Carmel, Ind.) each had nine digs, Seelbach totaled five blocks and Tara Dotzauer (Sr., Raleigh, N.C.) had three blocks to go with her nine kills and .471 attack percentage.

"This match and our match Saturday against Maryland Eastern Shore (a five-set win by the Mids) were critical matches," said Bock. "We had people come up big in both of them and are really pleased to be 4-0, but we still have a long way to go."

Also having a great night was Ssozi, who totaled 23 of Air Force's 54 kills.

Navy now plays its next nine matches over a span of three weekends on the road. The initial trio of those matches will be this weekend in Muncie, Ind., where the Mids will take part in the Ball State Tournament. Navy will face the tournament-host Cardinals Friday at 10 a.m., Fort Wayne Friday at 5 p.m. and Bradley Saturday at 3 p.m.