WASHINGTON, D.C. –– The two volleyball teams that met in the championship match of the 2017 Patriot League Tournament played another great match Sunday at Bender Arena in Washington, D.C., and like last year's late November meeting American (8-9, 3-0 Patriot League) came away with a victory over Navy (11-6, 3-1).  The Eagles posted a 25-17, 27-29, 26-24, 20-25, 15-8 victory over the Mids in a match lasting two and one-half hours.
 
Navy and American played a five-set match for the second year in a row in the facility, and it was the fifth time the teams have played a five-set contest since the Eagles joined the Patriot League in 2001.  American has posted a 5-0 record against Navy in five-set matches, which includes a 4-0 record in Bender Arena.
 
"American made some steady, savvy plays down the stretch," said Navy head coach Paco Labrador. "In matches where the teams are this evenly matched, it comes down to one or two routine plays."
 
Navy had a good start to the first set as it took an early 6-3 and was able to stretch that to five points at 13-8.  American promptly went on a 5-0 run of its own to tie the frame, then took the lead for good when a 3-0 spurt gave them a 17-15 advantage.
 
The Mids led the Eagles 12-9 in kills in the first set, but Navy also registered 10 attack errors to just two for the Eagles.
 
Set two saw the Mids trail by as many as four points at 14-10.  Navy tied the frame at 17 and soon took leads of 20-18, 21-19 and 22-20.  American tied the score at 22 and from there the teams played sideout volleyball until a service ace by Emily Solis on Navy's fifth set-point opportunity gave the Mids a 29-27 win in the set.
 
The teams played point-for point for most of the last two-thirds of the third set.  The score was tied at each point from 16-24.  American then tallied a kill and a tandem block to close out the frame.
 
Navy jumped out to an early 5-1 lead in set four, but the Mids were eventually caught by the Eagles.  Navy found some separation late as it turned an 18-17 lead into a 22-18 advantage.  That was enough for the Mids to hang on and force the fifth set.
 
Navy's offense found a new gear in the fourth set as the Mids recorded 21 kills and hit .348 in winning the frame. 
 
The Eagles held a slim 5-3 lead in the fifth set, then turned that into 10-4 advantage.  American outhit Navy .529-.167 in the final set.
 
Unofficially, as final statistics are not yet available, Navy held a 67-61 lead in kills but American outhit the Mids, .234-.210. 
 
Individually, Maddi Sgattoni (So., Pittsburgh, Pa.) posted 16 kills and 11 digs, Sarena Seelbach (Jr., Chapel Hill, N.C.) had 13 kills, Katie Patrick (Sr., Aurora, Colo.) recorded 12 kills and nine blocks, Kelsey Kingsland (Sr., Blackwell, Mo.) tallied 14 kills, Patricia Mattingly (Sr., New Albany, Ind.) registered 49 assists and 16 digs and Sydney Shearn (Sr., Louisville, Ky.) had 17 digs.
 
"I feel we handled many of the key American players well," said Labrador, "so there is that to build upon.  Katie and Sarena really helped us out of patterns and Kelsey scored some unbelievably tough points for us."
 
American's Helena Elbaek led all players with 20 kills.  She also registered just one attack error on her 41 swings for a hitting percentage of .463.
 
"Helena was on another level tonight," said Labrador.  "We haven't seen a hitter at that level since our first weekend of the season at Penn State,"
 
Navy will play host to Colgate Friday and Army West Point Saturday.