Final Stats

ELON, N.C. â€"â€" Elon rallied after losing the first two sets to defeat the Navy volleyball team Friday night at Alumni Gym in Elon, N.C. The Phoenix (9-3) rallied to defeat the Mids (9-2), 20-25, 15-25, 27-25, 25-23, 15-9, and end Navy's five-match winning streak.

"We had to win this match in three sets," said Navy head coach Larry Bock, "and we put ourselves in good position to do just that."

Navy used a 5-0 run midway through the opening set to take a 19-13 lead on its way to winning the opening stanza. The Mids would then jump out to a 10-3 lead at the start of the second set to take the 2-0 lead in frames.

"We played very, very well in sets one and two and into set three," said Bock. "I think Elon was playing a little out of character with its ball control in the first half of the match."

A close third set featuring 15 ties saw Navy edge its way out to a 24-22 lead and have two match points. Elon scored the ensuing three points to take a 25-24 lead and eventually win the set, 27-25 to extend the match.

Navy's lone lead in the ensuing fourth set came at 17-16, which Elon would go on to win and force the fifth set.

The Mids held a 3-1 lead in the very early stages of the fifth set only to see the Phoenix build a 9-4 cushion that Navy could not slice into.

"It looked as if we lost our pop at the end of the third set," said Bock. "Elon is a physical team and we were right there with them in the first half of the match. That changed, and you could see it in our explosiveness, defense, blocking and hitting. We started to hit too low and block too high."

Navy outhit Elon, .162-.130, for the match. However, the Mids hit a combined .218 in the first two sets and .124 in the last three sets. That was in comparison to Elon's mark of .044 in sets one and two and .200 in sets three through five.

"Elon made some nice adjustments as the match went on at the hitter positions," said Bock. "I'm going to figure out with this group how we can counter those adjustments."

Navy setter Patricia Mattingly (Jr., New Albany, Ind.) totaled 33 assists and 25 digs in the match. A trio of Mids, Maggie Phillips (Sr., Leesburg, Va.), Tara Dotzauer (Sr., Raleigh, N.C.) and Katie Patrick (Jr., Aurora, Colo.) combined for 37 of Navy's 57 kills. Phillips posted 14 kills, Dotzauer had 12 and Patrick finished with 11. Sarena Seelbach (So., Chapel Hill, N.C.) led Navy's front row defense with eight blocks and Emily Solis (So., Leebsurg, Va.) scooped up 19 digs.

Navy will play matches Saturday at High Point (11 a.m.) and UNCG (4 p.m.).