EASTON, Pa. –– Pennsylvania natives Maddi Sgattoni (Jr., Pittsburgh, Pa.) and Melissa Carter (Sr., Pittsburgh, Pa.) each had strong nights on both offense and defense during a four-set victory by the Navy volleyball team (13-9, 8-3 Patriot League) over Lafayette (13-14, 2-9), Saturday afternoon at the Kirby Sports Center in Easton, Pa.  The Mids recorded their fourth win in a row with the 27-25, 25-19, 18-25, 25-22 victory.
 
Lafayette, which held its Senior Day ceremony prior to the start of the match, has posted a 2-6 record in its last eight matches.  However, included in this span are four-set losses at Army, to American, at Lehigh, to Loyola and now to Navy, a five-set loss at home to Colgate (in which Lafayette held a 2-1 lead in sets), a four-set win over Bucknell and a five-set victory over Holy Cross.
 
"Lafayette plays with a great balance of aggressive swings while minimizing errors," said Navy head coach Paco Labrador.  "Teams really have to earn their points against them, and I thought we did that well early in the match."
 
The opening set was tied 15 times and the lead changed hands on six occasions.  The frame was tied at each point from 19 through 25.  The Mids were the first team to hold a set point as an attack error by the Leopards gave them a 24-23 lead.  The point was erased on a Lafayette kill.  Avery Stowell (So., Yorba Linda, Calif.) registered her seventh kill of the first set to make the score 25-24 in favor of the Mids.  Lafayette answer with another kill to extend the frame.  Kills by Carter and setter Paige Miles (Sr., Oklahoma City, Okla.) gave the set to Navy.
 
The second set began as close as the first, but the Mids slowly edged their way out to a lead in the middle segment of the stanza.  Navy held leads of 14-12 and 16-14 when a 5-0 run gave it a 21-14 cushion.  The last three points in that run came by way of kills from Amanda Montag (Jr., Rancho Palos Verdes, Calif.).  That was enough of a lead for the Mids to take a 2-0 lead.
 
The third set was tied at 5-5 when Lafayette went on a 4-0 run.  The score was then 10-7 in favor of the Leopards when they went on another 4-0 run to take a 14-7 lead.  Navy couldn't dig its way back into the set, which sent the teams into set number four.
 
Lafayette seemingly was on its way to forcing a fifth set as the leopards took leads of 17-11 and 19-14.  Navy answered by scoring the ensuing nine points to pull in front, 23-19.  Back-to-back Lafayette kills sliced the lead in half and resulted in a Navy timeout.  A Lafayette service error took Navy to match point.  The Leopards staved off one point, but a kill from Sofia Hruby (Sr., Austin, Texas) finished the 100-minute match.
 
Navy's offense registered 60 kills and a .279 attack percentage and its defense limited Lafayette to 50 kills and a .250 hitting night.  The Mids were on the short end of aces for one of the few times this season as the Leopards held a 9-5 advantage.  Lafayette also led in digs, 81-75, but Navy led in blocks, 5-3.
 
Sgattoni notched a double-double in the match with her team-high 15 kills to go along with 11 digs.  She also posted a .351 attack percentage as she had just two errors on 37 swings.  Carter tallied a career-high 12 kills and tied a career-best effort with five blocks.  Defensively, Emily Solis (Sr., Leesburg, Va.) grabbed 18 digs and Natalie LaPlaca (Owings, Md.) snared 13 digs.
 
"Maddi did a great job of scoring on the tough balls for us," said Labrador.
 
Navy will play four of its last five matches of the regular season at home.  That stretch begins Nov. 9 against American and Nov. 10 against Loyola.  Both of those matches will be played in the Wesley A. Brown Field House.
 
"We are excited to get back home for the majority of our remaining season," said Labrador.
 
Standings (16 match season)
11-1 American
10-1 Colgate
8-3 Navy
7-5 Army
6-6 Lehigh
5-7 Loyola
3-9 Bucknell
2-9 Lafayette
0-11 Holy Cross
Sunday's Schedule: Colgate at Holy Cross