Final Stats

WORCESTER, Mass. â€"â€" Late runs in each set allowed the Navy volleyball team to come away with a three-set victory over Holy Cross Saturday night at the Hart Center in Worcester, Mass. The Mids (14-3, 4-0 Patriot League) posted a 25-19, 25-19, 27-25 victory over the Crusaders (3-14, 0-4).

The victory was Navy's third in a span of five days, with Tuesday's win over American the first by the Mids over the Eagles since 1989 and Friday's win at Colgate the first for Navy in the venue since 2004. It also was six-week exam week at the USNA, and to top it off Navy had its two longest bus trips of the league season to contend with.

"We won three matches in a week, we circumnavigated the Patriot League, and we did it during exam week," said Navy head coach Larry Bock. "To say it was a good week for us would be putting it mildly.

"Now we have to take advantage of the great start and recognize other teams are really targeting us. It is a little bit different being the team chased as opposed to the one doing the chasing, and we need to recognize that and respond to the challenge ahead it presents."

Navy came out of the gate a little slow, falling behind 4-1 at the very start of the match before tying the first frame at 7-7. The score would be tied again at 11-11 when a 5-1 run gave Navy a 16-12 lead. Holy Cross sliced the margin down to two points at 16-14, then the teams played sideout volleyball until Navy held a 21-19 advantage. Maggie Phillips (Sr., Leesburg, Va.) posted a kill to make the margin three points, then she and Sarena Seelbach (So., Chapel Hill, N.C.) combined for a block to make the score 23-19 and lead to a Holy Cross timeout. Tara Dotzauer (Sr., Raleigh, N.C.) knocked down a kill after the stoppage in play to take the Mids to set point, which they converted when she and Seelbach teamed up for a block.

The Mids edged their way out to a 10-6 lead in the second set, with the advantage soon growing to 18-12. However, Holy Cross scored the ensuing four points to close to within 18-16. After a pair of sideouts made the score 19-17, a Holy Cross service error followed by a Phillips kill gave the Mids a 21-17 lead. A Navy service error allowed the margin to dip to 21-18, but a Dotzauer kill sparked a 3-0 run that gave Navy a 24-18 cushion.

The third set was tied at 7-7 when the Crusaders went on an 8-2 run to take a 15-9 advantage. Navy winnowed the margin down to as few as three points at 15-12 only to see Holy Cross take a 20-15 lead. Back came the Mids and the score was soon 22-21 in favor of the Crusaders.

An exchange of sideouts made the score 23-22, then Holy Cross took a 24-22 lead on a kill by Clare Honan. Phillips posted a kill to draw Navy to within one point, then she knocked down another kill to tie the stanza at 24-24. She then recorded a solo block to give Navy a 25-24 lead and the opportunity to serve for the match. A Navy service error erased that opportunity, but a Holy Cross service error gave the Mids a second chance. This time Phillips tallied yet another kill to close out the contest.

"The third set was as gratifying as anything this week," said Bock. "We had enough left in the tank both physically and emotionally to fight our way back into the set and get the win against a Holy Cross team that was playing us really tough. We weren't playing poorly at all."

Navy recorded two more kills than Holy Cross did (38-36), but the kill total for the Mids came on 28 fewer attempts (Navy had 117, Holy Cross 145). The Mids nearly doubled the hitting percentage of the Crusaders (.205-.110) thanks to Navy tallying eight blocks and Holy Cross just two. Navy also finished with 10 more digs than Holy Cross (71-61).

Phillips led the Navy offense with 11 kills and shared the team lead in blocks with Melissa Carter (So., Seven Fields, Pa.) as each registered three. Shearn grabbed 16 digs and Olivia Kluger (Sr., Carmel, Ind.) snared 13 digs to lead the Navy passers.

"Our pin hitters again played really well for us," said Bock. "Maggie carried us at the end of the third set. She, Tara, Maddi Sgattoni (Fr., Pittsburgh, Pa.) and Dorothy Murray (Sr., Harbor City, Calif.) all played well. It was especially nice to see Dororthy assert her will (four kills, no errors, eight attempts). We are going to need her.

"Another important takeaway from tonight is that we were able to get a lot of people some serious battle reps, and with doing so we were still able to win the match. It was a good last leg of the week."

Navy will be back in the Wesley A. Brown Field House for a pair of matches next weekend. The Mids will play host to Lafayette on Friday night (7 p.m.) and Bucknell Saturday afternoon (noon).