ANNAPOLIS, Md. –– The Navy volleyball team travels to New York State for a pair of matches this weekend. The Mids (11-11, 7-6 Patriot League) will face Army (16-6, 10-3) Friday at 7 p.m. in West Point and then play at Colgate (14-8, 11-2) Saturday at 3 p.m. in Hamilton.
A video stream of both matches will be available through ESPN+. A link to those streams and to live statistics from the matches will be available on NavySports.com.
Playoff Forecast
Navy, which has won four of its last five matches, has clinched a berth in the six-team Patriot League Tournament. The Mids enter the penultimate week of the regular season in fifth place, one-half match in front of sixth-place Loyola and two full matches in back of third-place Lafayette and American.
The Mids do not hold the tiebreaker against either American or Loyola. Navy lost to Lafayette in three sets earlier this season. The teams will close the regular season against one another Nov. 13 in Easton, Pa.
Tough Schedule to Close
Not only is Navy the only team in the league to close its regular season with three road matches, the Mids have to play against the No. 2 (Army), No. 1 (Colgate) and No. 3 (Lafayette, which holds the tiebreaker over American) teams in the standings.
About Navy
Navy earned a pair of wins this past weekend in Annapolis, defeating both Bucknell and Lehigh in three sets.
The Mids first recorded a 25-13, 25-16, 25-15 win over Bucknell. Navy registered 13 service aces in the match and posted a .324-.037 advantage in hitting percentage.
Jordan Llewellyn dropped in five aces,
Maggie Bodman tallied six blocks and three five Mids totaled either five or six kills.
One day later, the Mids posted a 25-15, 25-16, 25-16 victory over the Mountain Hawks. Navy's serve was again working, this time with seven aces but with multiple other efforts that led to immediate Lehigh free balls. The Mids hit .434 in the match and limited the Mountain Hawks to a .130 mark. Individually,
Jamie Llewellyn paced the Navy offense with 14 kills, while
Cami Herman tied a school record with a .900 hitting percentage. Additionally,
Kimberly Lynch notched five aves.
About Army
Army has won each of its last four and six of its last seven matches. The Black Knights also have posted a 5-1 record in league matches played in West Point.
Army defeated Navy in four sets (25-21, 18-25, 25-17, 25-18) when the teams met Sept. 25 in Annapolis for the Star Match.
Army totaled just one more kill than Navy, 49-48, but the Mids committed 21 attack errors to just 13 for the Black Knights. Navy also committed 16 service errors –– nine more than Army –– in the match.
Jamie Llewellyn led the Navy offense with 12 kills and
Avery Stowell tallied 10 kills. Llewellyn also recorded three of Navy's eight service aces. Defensively,
Kimberly Lynch totaled 20 digs.
Army was led on offense by 18 kills and a .593 hitting night from Paige Fixemer and on defense by 21 digs from Sayler Butters.
About Colgate
Colgate saw its nine-match league winning streak come to an end over the weekend with a five-set loss at Army. The Raiders rebounded the next day to sweep Holy Cross. Additionally, Colgate has posted a 6-0 record in home league matches.
The Raiders will play host to American Friday night before facing the Mids on Saturday.
Navy defeated Colgate in three sets (26-24, 25-21, 25-19) Sept. 24 in Annapolis.
The Mids held leads of 46-35 in kills, .250-.186 in hitting percentage, 41-32 in digs and 8-5 in blocks. Individually for Navy,
Jamie Llewellyn produced 14 kills and a .500 hitting percentage,
Kimberly Lynch had 14 digs and
Maggie Bodman recorded six blocks.
Colgate's offense was led by Libby Overmyer's 14 kills.
