BETHLEHEM, Pa. –– Maddi Sgattoni (Jr., Pittsburgh, Pa.) and Avery Stowell (So., Yorba Linda, Calif.) registered over half of the kills for the Navy volleyball team (12-9, 7-3 Patriot League) during a four-set win over Lehigh (13-12, 6-5), Friday night at Leeman-Turner Arena in Bethlehem, Pa.  The 25-17, 25-21, 16-25, 25-21 result was the third win in a row for the Mids and ended a four-match winning streak for the Mountain Hawks.
 
"Tonight's victory was a total team effort," said Navy head coach Paco Labrador.
 
The Mids broke open the first set early as they went on a 7-0 run to take a 16-9 lead.  Navy then jumped in front by scores of 3-0, 7-2, 14-7 and 18-8 in the second set.  Lehigh chipped away at the margin and was able to close to within three points at 24-21 before the Mids secured the frame.
 
Navy was seemingly on the correct path in set three as the Mids took leads of 14-9 and 15-11.  The score would soon be 16-14 in favor of the Mids.  Lehigh scored the next 11 points to win the stanza and extend the match.
 
The fourth set was tied at 13 when a 4-0 Navy run gave it some breathing room.  The Mountain Hawks whittled the margin down to two points at 22-20 when a Sgattoni kill made the score 23-20.  Lehigh earned the next point on a blocking error by the Mids, but Sgattoni ended each of the next two points with kills to close out the 101-minute match.
 
Navy only slightly outhit Lehigh, .224-.220, but the Mids held a 59-45 advantage in kills over the Mountain Hawks.  Navy also tallied nine aces and 64 digs and limited Lehigh to four aces and 52 digs.
 
The 59 kills were just three shy of tying the most by the Mids in a match this season, and that total of 62 kills came in a five-set match.
 
Sgattoni posted 19 kills and a .381 attack percentage and Stowell recorded 15 kills, a .344 hitting night and four service aces.  The pair combined for 34 kills and just seven hitting errors on 74 attempts (.365). 
 
"Amanda Montag (Jr., Rancho Palos Verdes, Calif.) passed at an elite level tonight," said Labrador, which allowed us to establish Avery.  When we needed a new source of offense, Maddi stepped up.  Our servers were striking the ball well and created consistent pressure."
 
Defensively, Emily Solis (Sr., Leesburg, Va.) again had a great night patrolling the back row as she scooped up 26 digs to miss tying her career high by one.
 
"Emily has great range and she needed every inch tonight as the Lehigh hitters were mixing speeds and angles all night," said Labrador.
 
Navy will remain in the Lehigh Valley overnight and will play at Lafayette Saturday afternoon.