WORCESTER, Mass. –– Maddi Sgattoni (So., Pittsburgh, Pa.) totaled a match-high 13 kills and the Navy volleyball team held a sizeable advantage in blocks to earn the Mids a four-set victory over Holy Cross Friday night at the Hart Center in Worcester, Mass. The Mids (21-8, 13-3) recorded a 25-18, 25-21, 18-25, 25-16 victory over the Crusaders (7-21, 6-9).
 
The match was the regular season finale for the Mids.  Navy will enter next weekend's Patriot League Tournament at American as the No. 2 seed in the four-team field.  A loss by the Eagles Saturday at Army would give Navy a share of the regular season title for the first time since 1999.
 
"Tonight was a real battle," said Navy head coach Paco Labrador.  "Both teams played every point with heart and fire.  Blocking was a big part of the match, with both teams taking aggressive swings.  I thought our hitters re-focused in the fourth set and a played sharp, low-error, high-efficiency offense."
 
Navy held a .259-.056 advantage in hitting percentage in winning the first set.  This was in spite of Holy Cross holding an 11-9 edge in kills during the frame.  That slim cushion was balanced out by the Crusaders tallying nine attack errors to just two for the Mids.
 
The gap in hitting percentages for the teams closed significantly in set two as Navy hit .167 and Holy Cross posted a .116 mark.  The Crusaders again had both more kills (14-12) and hitting errors than Navy (9-5).
 
The third set saw Holy Cross come out on the better side of both hitting statistics as it totaled five errors and forced the Mids into eight while continuing to hold an advantage in kills (10-9).  The Crusaders would extend the match by outhitting the Mids, .172-.033.
 
Navy put together its best stanza in the fourth frame.  Navy totaled 12 kills and two attack errors and limited Holy Cross to eight kills and seven errors.  The Mids would outhit the Crusaders, .385-.036.
 
Navy ended the match with a .200-.096 advantage in hitting. Though Holy Cross had one more kill than Navy (43-42), the Mids had 13 fewer attack errors than the Crusaders (30-17).  Aiding that latter advantage for Navy was it recording 10.5 blocks and allowing Holy Cross to tally four blocks.
 
Sgattoni was the lone Mid to reach double figures in kills, but both Sarena Seelbach (Jr., Chapel Hill, N.C.) and Kelsey Kingsland (Sr., Blackwell, Mo.) each posted eight kills.  Seelbach led Navy in blocks with six, which was two more than both setter Patricia Mattingly (Sr., New Albany, Ind.) and Melissa Carter (Jr., Pittsburgh, Pa.) recorded.  Mattingly added 30 assists and 10 digs, with Sydney Shearm (Sr., Louisville, Ky.) grabbing 17 digs.