ANNAPOLIS, Md. –– Top-seeded American (23-7) rallied late in sets two and three on its way to holding off the fourth-seeded Navy (17-12) volleyball team, 19-25, 25-23, 27-25, 25-19, Saturday afternoon in a Patriot League Tournament semifinal round match at Bender Arena in Washington, D.C. 
 
"I can't say enough about the heart and fighting spirit of this team," said Navy head coach Paco Labrador.  "That's all you can really ask for as a coach.  Our seniors led us with passion and an all-in commitment.  This loss stings but I am certain our returning players will use this experience to fuel an off-season fire that will have us 100 percent ready for the 2020 season."
 
Amanda Montag (Jr., Rancho Palos Verdes, Calif.) opened the match with a service ace as the Mids took early leads of 3-0, 6-2, 10-4 and 17-11.  Navy would hit .270 and hold American to a mark of .194 as the Mids earned the first-set victory.
 
American jumped out to a 6-1 lead in set two and expanded the margin to 17-10.  The Eagles would soon lead, 22-16, but the Mids scored the ensuing seven points to take their first lead of the frame at 23-22.  American tied the score on a kill, took a 24-23 lead on a block and then tallied another kill to win the set.
 
Set number three saw the score tied 10 times and the lead exchanged on four occasions.  American held a 6-5 lead when Navy went on a 6-0 run to take an 11-6 lead.  The Eagles tied the score at 13-13 on their way to taking leads of 18-15 and 22-18.  American soon reached set point with a 24-19 lead.  A kill by Sofia Hruby (Sr., Austin, Texas) followed by four-straight kills from Avery Stowell (So., Yorba Linda, Calif.) tied the frame at 24-24.  An American kill gave the Eagles their sixth set point of the frame, but another Stowell kill erased the chance.  An American kill and followed by an ace closed out the set.
 
After the fourth set began with neither team taking any kind of early lead, Navy used a 4-0 spurt to build a 13-7 advantage.  The Mids held an 18-16 lead when the Eagles scored the next seven points to take a 23-18 lead.  Several sideouts would end the match.
 
Today marked the 12^th match between the teams over the last four seasons as they have met twice during each of the regular season and then in the semifinals of the 2016 and 2019 tournaments plus the finals of the 2017 and 2018 events.
 
American outhit Navy, .240-.185, but the Mids held a 57-53 lead in kills.  The difference in hitting percentage came as a result of the Mids totaling 26 hitting errors and the Eagles accruing 18 attack errors.  Helping that margin was American holding a 12-6 cushion in blocks.
 
Maddi Sgattoni (Jr., Pittsburgh, Pa.) and Stowell each recorded 15 kills and Montag finished with nine kills.  Paige Miles (Sr., Oklahoma City, Okla.) again displayed why she was one of the top setters in the league this year as she finished with 44 assists, 15 digs, five kills, three aces and two blocks.  Additionally, team captain Emily Solis (Sr., Leesburg, Va.) snared 16 digs.
 
The Eagles will face third-seeded Army in Sunday's championship match.  The Black Knights advanced to the championship match after topping second-seeded Colgate in four sets in the second semifinal of the day.