ANNAPOLIS, Md. –– American recorded nine service aces and didn't allow any to the Navy volleyball team in a 3-0 (25-13, 25-18, 25-20) victory by the Eagles (20-7, 13-1) over the Mids (13-10, 8-4) Saturday afternoon at the Wesley A. Brown Field House in Annapolis. The win was the 13
th in a row for American and the loss for Navy ended a four-match winning streak by the Mids.
"American played one of its more complete matches of the season," said Navy head coach
Paco Labrador. "And when they are 'on', it is tough to beat them. That being said, we didn't take advantage of the opportunities we did have against them. Capitalizing better on those chances is something we need to improve upon. We can't let two or three points turn into five or six points."
The score in set one was tied at 7-7 when American went on a 7-1 run to break away from Navy. The second set was similar to the first as the Eagles turned a 9-8 lead into a 13-8 cushion. The Mids closed to within two points at 13-11, but American ran off the ensuing four points to again separate.
American built leads of 11-7 and 15-9 in set three only to see Navy slowly climb back into the frame. The Mids were able to winnow the margin down to 21-20, but the Eagles responded with a match-closing 4-0 run.
In addition to the 9-0 advantage in aces, American also held a 9-3 edge on blocks. Those two factors allowed the Eagles to hold a .345-.200 advantage in hitting percentage. This was despite the Mids finishing with just five fewer kills (39-34) and one fewer dig (27-26) than the Eagles.
Maddi Sgattoni (Jr., Pittsburgh, Pa.) and
Avery Stowell (So., Yorba Linda, Calif.) each posted nine kills to lead the Navy offense. Setter
Paige Miles (Sr., Oklahoma City, Okla.) led all Mids with eight digs.
Navy will be back on the courts Sunday at 2 p.m. when it plays host to Loyola.