EASTON, Pa. –– Avery Stowell's (Sr., Yorba Linda, Calif.) career-high 18 kills were not enough for the Navy volleyball team in a four-set loss to Lafayette, Saturday evening at the Kirby Sports Center in Easton, Pa.  The Leopards (15-9, 12-4 Patriot League) defeated the Mids (12-13, 8-8), 25-17, 25-21, 23-25, 25-16.

"Credit Lafayette," said Navy head coach Paco Labrador.  "They play an aggressive style but don't give up many mistakes, which was too much for us tonight."

With the loss, Navy falls to the No. 6 seed in the Patriot League Tournament.  The Mids will play Tuesday at No. 3 Army in the quarterfinal round of the event.  

Lafayette secured second place in the league standings and a bye into the semifinal round of the tournament with the victory.

The Leopards quickly took a 9-1 lead in set one today.  Lafayette kept a comfortable cushion throughout the remainder of the set despite recording fewer kills than the Mids (12-8).  The difference came in blocking, where the Leopards registered a 5-1 edge, and in hitting errors, as Navy had 10 errors and forced just three.

Both teams hit the ball much better in the second stanza as Navy had 15 kills and a .289 percentage while Lafayette had 18 kills to go along with a .378 attack percentage.  The Mids held a 17-15 lead only to see the Leopards score the next four points to take a 19-17 advantage.  Four-straight sideouts made the score 21-19, then Lafayette scored on its serve to take a 22-19 advantage.  A Navy sideout closed the score to 22-20, but back-to-back blocks for Lafayette stretched the margin out to 24-20.

Lafayette then took leads of 18-15 and 22-19 in the third set.  Navy rallied to tie the score on a kill by Stowell, an ace by Stowell and a kill by Maggie Bodman (Sr., Northbrook, Ill.).  A Lafayette attack error followed, which gave the Mids a 23-22 lead.  The Leopards tied the set at 23-23 on a kill, but Navy recorded a sideout and reached set point on a kill by Stowell.  Cami Herman (Sr., Brookfield, Wis.) dropped in an ace to give the third set to Navy.

"I'm proud of the fight we displayed late in the third set to win it and force a fourth set," said Labrador.

Stowell had an impressive seven kills and one attack error on 11 swings in the third frame for a .545 hitting percentage.

The fourth set was tied at 4-4 when a 4-0 run gave Lafayette an 8-4 lead.  There remained a four-point difference between the teams at 15-11 when Lafayette ran off three-straight points to extend the margin out to seven points at 18-11.  That was enough for the Leopards to close out the match.

Lafayette had only four more kills than Navy in the match, 53-49, but the Mids had 24 attack errors to just 19 for the Leopards.  Much of that was due to Lafayette holding a 13-6 edge in blocks, as well as a 10-4 advantage in aces.  The Leopards hit .274 and limited Navy to a mark of .188.

Stowell, who had set her previous career high for kills in a match with 17 just eight days ago, was the lone Navy player to reach double figures in kills.  Her 18 kills came on 35 swings and she ended the match with a .371 hitting performance.  Stowell also added four blocks.  Additionally, Herman recorded three aces and Kimberly Lynch (Sr., Murietta, Calif.) posted a team-high 13 digs.

"We know where we need to improve and we will clean up some systematic items before Tuesday," said Labrador.

Patriot League Standings
13-3 Colgate
12-4 Lafayette
11-5 Army
11-5 American
9-7 Loyola
8-8 Navy
4-12 Lehigh
3-13 Bucknell
1-15 Holy Cross

Patriot League Tournament Schedule
Quarterfinals - Tuesday, Nov. 16
No. 6 Navy at No. 3 Army
No. 5 Loyola at No. 4 American
Semifinals - Saturday, Nov. 20
Navy / Army vs. No. 2 Lafayette (at Colgate)
Loyola / American at No. 1 Colgate
Final - Sunday, Nov. 21
 Semifinal Winners (at Colgate)