ANNAPOLIS, Md. –– The Navy volleyball team will close the home portion of its regular season this weekend when the Mids play host to Lehigh on Friday and Bucknell on Saturday in the Wesley A. Brown Field House. Navy (9-11, 5-6 Patriot League) will face the Mountain Hawks (2-9, 6-16) at 6 p.m.
(NOTE NEW START TIME AS OF FRIDAY MORNING) and the Bison (2-9, 6-14) at 3 p.m.
A link to live statistics from the matches will be available on NavySports.com.
Accessing the USNA
The USNA is closed to all vehicles without a Department of Defense-approved identification card. All other visitors must either walk through one of the security gates or ride the shuttle bus. The free shuttle bus service begins one hour before all matches
(5 p.m. on Friday, 2 p.m. on Saturday). Whether walking on or riding the shuttle bus, those ages 18 and over must present a photo identification card (driver's license) to gain access and those ages 17 and under must be accompanied by an adult.
The shuttle will depart from the blue (west) side parking lot at Navy-Marine Corps Memorial Stadium. Enter the lot off of Taylor Avenue (south side of the stadium). There is a $5 parking fee per vehicle. The shuttle will depart from and return to the bus stop next to the Blue Angel jet.
COVID-19 Policy
As per Department of Defense regulations, those who have not been vaccinated must wear a mask at all times when on the USNA grounds and those who have been vaccinated have the option to wear a mask while outdoors but must wear a mask while indoors. Additionally, masks must be worn by everyone regardless of vaccination status while riding the shuttle bus.
Playoff Possibilities
There will be just two weeks remaining in the regular season following play this weekend.
The Mids currently sit in sixth place in the Patriot League standings with a 5-6 record in league play. Victories by Navy over both Lehigh and Bucknell would secure a berth for the Mids in the six-team postseason field.
After this weekend, Navy has the toughest closing two-week stretch of any team in the league as the Mids play at first-place Colgate (10-1) and at both Army (8-3) and Lafayette (8-3), which are the two teams currently tied for second place in the standings.
Senior Day
Prior to Saturday's match against Bucknell, Navy will hold a Senior Day ceremony for players
Taylor Gray (Huntington Beach, Calif.),
Avery Haydu (Allen, Texas),
Cami Herman (Brookfield, Wis.),
Kimberly Lynch (Murrietta, Calif.) and
Avery Stowell (Yorba Linda, Calif.) and team manager Hannah Scott Avery.
About Navy
Navy faced local foes Loyola and American this past weekend. The Mids began the weekend series with a four-set (25-16, 17-25, 26-24, 25-21) victory over the Greyhounds in Annapolis.
Jordan Llewellyn (So., Port Deposit, Md.) totaled 17 kills and Stowell added 14 kills and eight digs in the match. Lynch paced the Navy passers with 18 digs and
Maggie Bodman (So., Northbrook, Ill.) posted six blocks.
Two days later, Navy fell in four sets (27-25, 25-18, 20-25, 25-22) at American. Llewellyn again led the Navy offense with 14 kills.
Non-League Schedule
The five non-Patriot League opponents Navy lost matches to have combined for an overall record of 68-30 (69.4%). Take away the Liberty loss and the record for the other four teams is 59-21 (73.4%). Of those 21 losses by Towson, Michigan, West Virginia and Loyola Marymount, 13 were to teams holding a national ranking at the time of the match.
About Lehigh
Lehigh travels to Annapolis having lost its last five league matches. That span includes a five-set loss to American and four-set losses to Holy Cross, American, Army and Colgate.
The Mountain Hawks hung on for a five-set victory over the Mids back on Oct. 2 in Bethlehem. Lehigh won sets one and two by scores of 26-24 and 25-15, respectively, then Navy forced a fifth set with wins in sets three (25-17) and four (25-22). The Mountain Hawks would prevail in the match with a 15-11 victory in the fifth set.
Lehigh totaled just two more kills than Navy, 57-55, but the Mountain Hawks held a 12-5 lead in bocks which contributed to their forcing the Mids into 12 more attack errors (31-19). That allowed Lehigh to post a .255 hitting percentage and limit Navy to a mark of .147. Additionally, Navy dropped in 10 service aces to four for Lehigh.
Stowell led all players in the match with 16 kills. Teammate Bodman added 14 kills and a .522 hitting percentage. Lehigh's trio of Megan Schulte (13 kills), Lylah Washington (12) and Sabrina Lancaster (11) reached double figures in kills.
Defensively, Lynch grabbed 16 digs and Herman totaled 12 digs to go along with five aces. On the other side of the net, Ally Thaw had 19 digs, Sarah Burau had 17 digs, Sophia Meagher had eight blocks and Schulte recorded six blocks.
About Bucknell
Bucknell heads into a Friday night match at American after splitting two matches last weekend. The Bison defeated Holy Cross in five sets and lost to Army in three very close sets (by a total of 11 points).
Of the team's 30 set losses in league play, 16 have been by no more than five points and nine have been by either two or three points.
Navy defeated Bucknell in three sets when the teams met Oct. 1 in Lewsiburg. The Mids beat the Bison, 25-15, 25-21, 25-16.
Navy held a modest advantage of 38-31 in kills, but when added to the Bison committing 22 attack errors and forcing just 13, the Mids had a comfortable lead of .260-.090 in hitting percentage. Most of the other statistics between the teams were fairly even.
Individually, Navy's
Jamie Llewellyn (So., Port Deposit, Md.) and Bucknell's Catherine Jamison each produced 12 kills. Additionally, Llewellyn hit .500 in the match.
