ANNAPOLIS, Md. –– A short-handed Navy (9-9, 4-3 Patriot League) volleyball pushed first-place Colgate (14-5, 7-0 Patriot League) in a four-set loss by the Mids to the Raiders Friday night at Cotterell Court in Hamilton, N.Y.  Colgate defeated Navy, 25-23, 22-25, 25-15, 25-20, in a two-hour match.
 
"While we are disappointed in the loss, I am really proud of our fight tonight," said Navy head coach Paco Labrador.  "We are battling through some injuries, but that is providing us with some good opportunities for other players to take to the court and learn how to step up to the challenge."
 
Down two starters –– Maddi Sgattoni (Jr., Pittsburgh, Pa.), Sarena Seelbach (Sr., Chapel Hill, N.C.) –– from Navy's lineup at the beginning of the season, the Mids and the Raiders were tied 10 times in set one.  Navy held an 18-17 lead when Colgate rattled off the next three points to take a 20-18 lead.  After a sideout by the Mids (20-19), the Raiders scored the next three points to extend their lead out to 23-19.  Colgate quickly reached set point with a 24-21 cushion.  Navy tallied the next two points on a kill and a Colgate attack error to close to within one point at 24-23.  A kill by the Raiders gave them the opening set.
 
Navy jumped out to a 6-1 lead at the start of set number two and soon built an 11-5 advantage.  Colgate went on a run and tied the stanza at 11-11 on its way to taking a 14-13 lead.  Back came the Mids with a 4-0 run to regain the advantage at 17-14.  The score would be tied at 18-18 when a kill by Cami Herman (So., Brookfield, Wis.), an ace by Taylor Gray (So., Huntington Beach, Calif.) and two more Navy kills gave the Mids a 22-18 lead.  The score would become 24-19 in favor of the Mids when a 3-0 run by the Raiders closed the margin down to 24-22.  Sofia Hruby (Sr., Austin, Texas) stopped the Colgate run with a kill.
 
The Raiders controlled set three from the start, taking leads of 10-3 and 20-9 in building a 2-1 advantage.
 
The teams went point-for-point with each other through the majority of the fourth set.  Navy held an 18-17 lead when a 6-0 run by Colgate proved too much for the Mids to overcome.
 
Colgate totaled 55 kills and a .237 attack percentage for the match, with Navy recording 48 kills and a .156 hitting night.  Take away the third set and Navy led Colgate in kills, 41-40, and the Raiders only slightly outhit the Mids, .220-.204.
 
Navy dropped in three aces and did not allow an ace to Colgate.  Also, the Raiders held slight leads over the Mids in both digs (48-47) and blocks (11-9).
 
Six Mids totaled at least five kills in the match, with Melissa Carter (Sr., Pittsburgh, Pa.) recording 10 and both Avery Stowell (So., Yorba Linda, Calif.) and Amanda Montag (Jr., Rancho Palos Verdes, Calif.) finishing with nine.  Montag led Navy with 13 digs, and Carter and Hruby each totaled four blocks.  Additionally, Paige Miles (Sr., Oklahoma City, Okla.) registered 30 assists, six kills, five digs and two blocks.
 
"Paige did a great job scoring for us and drawing blockers when she wasn't attacking," said Labrador.  "And our passers fought off some tough Colgate servers."
 
After playing 16 of their 18 matches this year on the road, including five of their seven league matches, the Mids will be home next weekend for contests against Holy Cross (Oct. 25) and Army (Oct. 26).  That will start a season closing stretch of six matches at home and three on the road.