ANNAPOLIS, Md. –– The Navy volleyball team (17-11) made its first home Patriot League Tournament match in two decades an enjoyable one as it posted a three-set victory over Lehigh (14-17), Tuesday night at the Wesley A. Brown Field House in Annapolis.  The fourth-seeded Mids defeated the fifth-seeded Mountain Hawks, 25-20, 25-21, 25-16, in a quarterfinal round match.
 
"I really liked our focus and energy tonight," said Navy head coach Paco Labrador.
 
The victory advances Navy to a semifinal round match at top-seeded American.  That match will begin at 2 p.m. on Saturday, with the second semifinal, No. 2 Colgate vs. No. 3 Army, following at 5 p.m.  The two semifinal round winners will meet Sunday at 2 p.m. in the championship match.
 
Navy never trailed in the first set, but it did hold several precarious leads.  The Mids started fast by scoring the opening three points of the match.  Navy soon turned an 8-6 lead into an 11-6 cushion, then jumped in front, 19-11.  The Mids seemingly were in control of the set as they eventually reached set point with a 24-16 lead.  However, four-straight points by the Mountain Hawks cut the lead in half and resulted in a timeout being called by Labrador.  A Lehigh attack error on the ensuing play gave Navy set one.
 
Navy won the first set despite recording only nine kills and a .042 hitting percentage. Lehigh was only slightly better with 11 kills and a .062 hitting set.  The Mountain Hawks added to the point total for the Mids with eight attack errors, three service errors, three receiving errors, a blocking error and a ball handing error.
 
The momentum Lehigh gained toward the end of the first set carried over into the start of the second as the visitors scored seven of the first eight points of the frame.  The resulted in a stoppage in play by Labrador, and the Mids responded by scoring seven of the next eight points to tie the score at 8-8.
 
Lehigh regained the lead and held an 11-10 advantage when a 4-0 Navy run boosted the Mids to a 14-11 lead.  The score would eventually be tied at 17-17 and 18-18, then back-to-back points for the Mids on a kill from setter Paige Miles (Sr., Oklahoma City, Okla.) and an ace by Natalie LaPlaca (Sr., Owings, Md.) stretched the lead to 20-18.  The teams played sideout volleyball over the next number of points to make the score 23-21 in favor of the Mids.  Miles broke the streak with an ace, then Amanda Montag (Jr., Rancho Palos Verdes, Calif.) recorded a kill to close out the set.
 
Navy held a slim lead through the first half of the third set.  It was a 12-11 advantage when Sarena Seelbach (Sr., Chapel Hill, N.C.) knocked down a kill, which led to LaPlaca heading back to the service line.  Her last offering was with the Mids holding a 20-11 lead.  Included in that span were two Lehigh hitting errors, two kills from Seelbach, one kill from Maddi Sgattoni (Jr., Pittsburgh, Pa.) and an ace from LaPlaca.
 
That nine-point lead was never threatened over the remainder of the set.
 
Navy held a .227-.100 advantage in hitting percentage for the match.  This included a .352-.129 edge over the last two sets.  The Mids did not commit an attack error in the third set as they registered 17 kills on 36 swings (.472).
 
Navy also held statistical advantages over Lehigh in kills (41-28), aces (8-3) and digs (58-49).
 
"Lehigh took some really nice swings and I think our passers made some plays when we needed them," said Labrador.  "Our offense evolved throughout the match and we finished the third set with a nice mix of smart shots and big swings."
 
Montag led all players in the match with 13 kills.  She also posted two aces and nine digs.  Miles dished out 30 assists and added five digs, four kills, three aces and three blocks.  Sgattoni snared 20 digs and knocked down nine kills.  LaPlaca grabbed nine digs and dropped in two service aces.
 
Navy fell in five sets to American in a match played in Washington, D.C., and lost in three sets in the match played in Annapolis.