ANNAPOLIS, Md. –– After cruising in the first set, the Navy volleyball team had to dig deep to come away with a three-set victory over Holy Cross Saturday night at the Wesley A. Brown Field House in Annapolis.  The Mids (15-6, 7-1 Patriot League) defeated the Crusaders (4-17, 3-5), by set scores of 25-10, 26-24 and 25-22.
 
The victory by the Mids was their fourth in a row and keeps them one win behind first-place American and two wins in front of third-place Lehigh at the midpoint of the league campaign.  Navy, which defeated Lehigh in five sets and lost to American in five sets earlier this season, will play host to the Mountain Hawks and then the Eagles on the next two Fridays with a Saturday match against Bucknell in between.
 
"We are looking forward to assessing where we are at after the first half of the league season," said Navy head coach Paco Labrador, "and then continuing to grow and develop in the weeks ahead."
 
Everything went right for Navy and wrong for Holy Cross in the first set.  The Mids took leads of 2-0, 9-2 and 16-4 in running away from the Crusaders early.  Navy totaled 14 kills, two errors and a .444 attack percentage in the opening set and limited Holy Cross to seven kills, seven errors and a .000 hitting performance.
 
The Crusaders made some lineup changes in the second set and that seemed to spark them right from the start.  The score would be tied 16 times and the lead changed hands on 11 occasions in the frame.  Holy Cross held leads of 15-12 and 17-14 before a 5-0 run gave Navy a 19-17 lead.  The Crusaders regained the lead at 20-19 and then took a 21-20 advantage.  The Mids scored the ensuing two points but that was followed by the Crusaders taking a 23-22 lead. 
 
A service error by Holy Cross tied the score and returned the serve to Navy.  Patricia Mattingly (Sr., New Albany, Ind.) set Maddi Sgattoni (So., Pittsburgh, Pa.) for a kill to take the Mids to set point with a 24-23 lead. Holy Cross erased Navy's chance to win the set on a kill, then Mattingly fed Katie Patrick (Sr., Aurora, Colo.) for a kill to give Navy a 25-24 lead.  The Mids would close out the stanza on Sgattoni's sixth kill of the set.
 
Navy still managed to total 14 kills on the second set, but the Mids also committed seven hitting errors to total a .143 percentage for the frame.  Conversely, Holy Cross tallied 15 kills and seven errors and hit .174.
 
Navy roared out of the starting blocks in set three, jumping out to an 8-2 lead.  Holy Cross immediately chipped away at the margin and closed to within two points at 10-8 and then winnowed the deficit down to one point at 15-14.  Navy tallied back-to-back points on its way to building five-point cushions at 20-15, 21-16 and 22-17, then took a 23-17 lead on a kill by Olivia Rozmus (Jr., Chicago, Ill.). 
 
Holy Cross wasn't finished and quickly ran off the ensuing three points to make the score 23-20.  A service error by the Crusaders took the Mids to match point with a 24-20 lead, but that was followed by back-to-back points by the Crusaders.  Navy would conclude the set and the 80-minute match on a kill by Sarena Seelbach (Jr., Chapel Hill, N.C.).
 
"Holy Cross really came after us from the endline tonight," said Labrador.  "Our pin hitters took a few more swings than they usually do, but they handled the workload well.
 
"It was great to see different players rise to the occasion at different times when we needed a play.
 
For the first time in several matches, the Mids struggled with siding out.  Navy impressively scored points on 9 of the 11 Holy Cross serves in the first set (81%), but the Mids successfully sided out on just 54 percent of the serves by the Crusaders in the second set (13-24) and improved slightly to 60 percent in set three (14-23).
 
Navy ended the night with a .286 attack percentage and held Holy Cross to a mark of .125.  The Mids tallied 44 kills and 14 attack errors on 105 attempts and the Crusaders totaled 31 kills and 19 errors on 107 swings.  Both teams had five aces and four blocks and Navy outdug Holy Cross, 50-37.
 
Sgattoni notched 11 kills and Kingsland had 10 to lead the Navy offense.  The middle hitters for the Mids, Patrick and Seelbach, combined for 15 kills and 2 errors on 27 swings (.481).  Seelbach also added two aces, three digs and two blocks to her stats line.
 
Defensively, Sydney Shearn (Sr., Louisville, Ky.) grabbed 15 digs, Darby Minton (Sr., Chino Hills, Calif.) had nine digs and Mattingly grabbed eight digs to go along with her 38 assists. 
 
Patriot League Standings (top-4 teams make the playoffs, 16-match regular season)
8-0 American
7-1 Navy
5-3 Lehigh
4-3 Colgate (Sunday at Loyola)
4-3 Loyola (Sunday vs. Colgate)
3-5 Holy Cross
2-5 Army (Sunday vs. Bucknell)
1-6 Bucknell (Sunday at Army)
0-8 Lafayette