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ANNAPOLIS, Md. –– The Navy volleyball team (9-9, 4-3 Patriot League) will begin the second half of the Patriot League season by playing host to Holy Cross (3-19, 0-8) on Friday (7 p.m.) and Army West Point (15-6, 6-2) on Saturday (8 p.m.).  Both matches will be played in the Wesley A. Brown Field House.  There is no admission charge for home volleyball matches.

Shuttle Bus Locations
The fan shuttle bus for Friday's match will originate from and return to the blue (west) parking lot of Navy-Marine Corps Memorial Stadium.  The shuttle will start operating at 6 p.m.  Saturday's shuttle will begin from and return to the parking lot located just before the NEX Gas Station (247 Kinkaid Road, Annapolis, MD 21402) and right across the street from the Navy Lodge (347 Kinkaid Road) by Naval Support Activity Annapolis.  The shuttle will start at 7 p.m.

Last Match
Navy lost a four-set decision to first-place Colgate, 25-23, 22-25, 25-15, 25-20, Friday in Hamilton, N.Y.  Down two starters due to injuries, the Mids battled the Raiders closely in three of the four sets.  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 that was controlled by the Raiders and Navy led Colgate in kills, 41-40, and the Raiders only slightly outhit the Mids, .220-.204.

Melissa Carter (Sr., Pittsburgh, Pa.) posted a career-high 10 kills to lead the Navy offense, and both she and fellow middle hitter Sofia Hruby (Sr., Austin, Texas) recorded four blocks.  Also, Amanda Montag (Jr., Rancho Palos Verdes, Calif.) just missed a double-double as she finished with nine kills and 13 digs.

About Holy Cross
The Crusaders travel to Annapolis in the midst of a nine-match losing streak.  Two of those losses were five-set defeats to league foes Lafayette and Bucknell.  Holy Cross has lost a total of five matches that went to five sets this season.

Navy registered a three-set –– 34-32, 25-20, 25-19 –– victory over Holy Cross when the teams met Sept. 28 in Worcester.  Both offenses were clicking as the Mids hit .320 and the Crusaders totaled a .267 attack percentage.  Holy Cross posted more kills than Navy did (47-44), but the Crusaders tallied six more attack errors than the Mids (19-13).  Also, Navy dropped in seven aces against eight service errors in contrast to the one ace and 12 errors from the service line for Holy Cross.

Individually, Avery Stowell (So., Yorba Linda, Calif.) for Navy and Gracyn Benck for Holy Cross led the respective teams with 13 kills each.

"Holy Cross played a hard hitting, physical match in our first encounter," said Navy head coach Paco Labrador.  "They have since sharpened their passing and added more velocity to their serves.  We will have to be ready to match their aggressive 'go-for-it' style of play."

About Army
Army heads into a Friday night match at American as winners in each of its last four and in six of its last seven matches.  The only defeat during this  span was a four-set loss at home to Colgate.

The two service academy teams met in the Star Match Sept. 27 in West Point.  In yet another closely played match between the teams, the Black Knights came out ahead, 25-15, 13-25, 25-18, 19-25, 17-15.  Most of the team statistics were reasonably close for a match that lasted nearly two and one-half hours, except in blocking where Army held a 14-4 advantage over Navy.

Stowell also paced the Navy offense in the match with 18 kills.  She was one of three Mids to tally double digits in kills, and she did so with an impressive hitting percentage of .469.  Army also had three players reach double figurers in kills.  Leading the Black Knights was Courtney Horace with 14 to go along with her .357 hitting night.

Defensively, Army's Ana Ogilvie snared 21 digs, teammate Emmy Barnhart registered nine blocks and Navy's Emily Solis (Sr., Leesburg, Va.) grabbed 18 digs.

"Our first meeting of the season with Army was a classic, knock-down, drag-out battle," said Labrador.  "This match will never be a question of heart; it will be about taking care of details, technically and tactically.  Both teams have added more middle attacking to their distribution so we will need to serve and defend with purpose."

Up Next
Navy heads to Pennsylvania's Lehigh Valley next weekend for matches at Lehigh (Nov. 1) and Lafayette (Nov. 2).