ARLINGTON, Va. –– Three members of the Navy (2-1) volleyball team reached double figures in kills in a three-set sweep over Connecticut (2-1), Saturday morning at the Pentagon Athletic Center in Arlington, Va.  The Mids defeated the Huskies by set scores of 25-21, 25-23 and 25-17.
 
"The win was a total team effort," said Navy head coach Paco Labrador.  "We had a really short turnaround with playing the 7 p.m. match last night and the 10 a.m. match this morning.  I'm proud of our ability to recover and bring excellent energy to the match."
 
The opening set featured 12 ties and five lead changes.  UConn held a 19-17 advantage when Maddi Sgattoni (Jr., Pittsburgh, Pa.) recorded back-to-back kills to draw Navy even.  The teams played sideout volleyball over the ensuing four points to keep the score tied at 21, then a kill by Melissa Carter (Sr., Pittsburgh, Pa.) gave the Mids a 22-21 lead.  Sarena Seelbach (Sr., Chapel Hill, N.C.) followed with a solo block to boost the lead out to 23-21 and result in a timeout being called by UConn.  Once play resumed, Seelbach and Amanda Montag (Jr., Ranchos Palos Verdes, Calif.) teamed up for another block to take the Mids to set point, which they converted when Sgattoni set setter Celie Feighery (Fr., Oak Hill, Va.) for a kill.
 
UConn jumped out to a 12-7 lead midway through the second set only to see Navy record the next five points to tie the score.  After a kill by the Huskies, the Mids ran off the next four points to build a 17-13 advantage.  Navy held one-point leads at 17-16 and 18-17, then scored the next four points to take a 22-17 lead.  That would provide enough of a cushion for the Mids to win the second stanza.
 
The teams split the first 16 points of set three, then a 6-0 Navy run gave it some separation from UConn.  Once the Mids held that 14-8 advantage, their lead would remain at least four points (14-10) over the remainder of the frame.
 
Navy had a great hitting match it totaled a percentage of at least .400 in all three sets.  Sgattoni led the Mids with 11 kills, Montag recorded 10 kills and Sofia Hruby (Sr., Austin, Texas) knocked down 10 kills and hit .615.  Distributing the ball well were setters Paige Miles (Sr., Oklahoma City, Okla.) with 31 assists and Feighery with seven helpers.
 
Defense also had a hand in the Navy win as it limited UConn to hitting marks of .310, .308 and .000, respectively, in the three sets.  Combined, Navy outhit UConn, .455-.218.  Pacing the defense for the Mids were Emily Solis (Sr., Leesburg, Va.) with 12 digs and Seelbach with four blocks.
 
The Mids also totaled 46 kills, 24 digs and seven blocks and limited the Huskies to 31 kills, 19 digs and four blocks.
 
"Our servers were really dialed in, which allowed our middles to block and attack at a high rate," said Labrador.  "We are going to have a great practice week this week and continue building our cohesion."
 
Navy will play a pair of matches against Alabama and UC Santa Barbara next weekend as part of a tournament at VCU.