LYNCHBURG, Va. –– The Navy volleyball team split a pair of matches on Friday as part of the Liberty Invitational in Lynchburg, Va.  The Mids (4-4) won a 25-19, 25-16, 25-18 decision over Purdue Fort Wayne (1-6) and lost a 25-22, 28-30, 25-18, 25-22 match to Liberty (4-1).  The latter contest lasted two minutes shy of two and one-half hours.

Navy will close both the tournament and its non-league schedule Saturday when it faces Loyola Marymount at 4 p.m.

Navy 3, Purdue Fort Wayne 0
The teams went point-for-point with one another through the first half of the opening set.  The score was tied eight times and the lead changed hands on five occasions.  The score was knotted at 17-17 when setter Averi Miller (So., Phoenix, Ariz.) recorded a block to give Navy an 18-17 lead.  Miller then set Jamie Llewellyn (So., Port Deposit, Md.) for a kill to stretch the lead to two points.  The Mastodons answered with a kill to cut the lead in half (19-18), then the Miller-to-Llewellyn combination worked again to make the score 20-18.  A Fort Wayne attack error followed by a block from Anna Klemeyer (So., Sarasota, Fla.) pushed the margin to 22-18.  After a sideout by the Mastodons (22-19), a kill by Llewellyn, a block by the tandem of Klemeyer and Avery Stowell (Sr., Yorba Linda, Caif.) and a Fort Wayne attack error closed out the set.

The Mastodons took an 11-7 lead near the midpoint of the second set.  A Llewellyn kill triggered a 7-0 run by the Mids that made the score 14-11.  After a Navy service error (14-12), Llewellyn registered another kill that began a 4-0 run and extended the cushion out to 18-12.  The margin would be at least five points over the remainder of the frame.

Navy never trailed in the third set, but didn't hold a comfortable advantage until a 6-0 run gave it a 16-10 lead.  The smallest margin from there was four points and that came when the Mids held a 22-18 lead.

"Our serving and passing made a big impact on this match," said Navy head coach Paco Labrador.  "We were able to string together a few good runs and keep a steady sideout game going.  Jamie bailed us out of some tough spots, and Cami Herman (Sr., Brookfield, Wis.) and Avery Stowell were solid as both passers and attackers."

Navy recorded just five more kills than Fort Wayne in the match (38-33), but committed 10 fewer attack errors (21-11) to hold a .314-.130 advantage in hitting percentage.  The Mids also held a 7-4 lead in aces.  Each team grabbed 35 digs and tallied six blocks.

Llewellyn notched 12 kills and just two attack errors on 20 swings to end the match with a .500 hitting percentage.  Just missing double figures in kills was Stowell with nine.  Miller and fellow setter Celie Feighery (Jr., Oak Hill, Va.) each dished out 16 assists.  Defensively, Klemeyer posted five blocks and Stowell and Kimberly Lynch (Sr., Murrietta, Calif.) each snared eight digs.

Liberty 3, Navy 0
Set one between the Mids and Flames was one of runs.  Navy took a 14-8 lead, Liberty took a 16-15 lead, the Mids led 19-17 and 20-18 then the Flames built a 24-21 advantage.  A Navy sideout staved off one set point against the Mids, but a Liberty kill gave the Flames the opening set.

Neither team held any significant lead in set two until Liberty went on a 5-0 run to take a 21-16 lead.  Navy climbed back to within one point at 21-20, then the teams played sideout volleyball until the Flames reached set point with a 24-22 lead.  Stowell kept the set alive with a kill, then a block by Maggie Bodman (So., Northbrook, Ill.) tied the set at 24-24.  Liberty served for the set at both 25-24 and 26-25, then appeared to win the set on a Navy attack error.  However, Labrador challenged the play and it was overtured after a Liberty touch was called, which tied the set again at 26-26.

Herman stepped back to serve and her effort made for a short point as she dropped in an ace to give Navy a 27-26 lead and its first chance to serve for the set.  Liberty tied the score on a kill, then served for the set for a fifth time at 28-27 following a Navy attack error.  Llewellyn added another kill to her line in the box score to tie the set for the 16th time.  Middle hitter Bodman fed setter Miller for a kill on the next play to give the Mids a 29-28 advantage.  A Liberty attack error gave Navy the set.

Navy was playing from behind throughout the third set as Liberty took leads of 3-0, 7-4 and 16-10.  The Mids ran off four-consecutive points (16-14) to climb back into the frame, but quickly gave up the next three points to fall behind 19-14.  Liberty had 15 kills and seven attack errors in the set in contrast to the six kills and eight errors for Navy.

Navy started the fourth set by scoring five of the first six points.  The Mids would hold a slim lead until the Flames tied the score at 16-16.  After ties at 17-17 and 18-18, Navy took a 19-18 advantage on a Liberty attack error.  The Flames proceeded to score the next three points to take a 21-19 lead.  Back came Navy with kills from first Klemeyer and then Herman  to tie the frame for the seventh time at 21-21.  Two Liberty kills and a solo block by the Flames took them to match point with a 24-21 lead.  A kill by Herman briefly extended the match.

"Tons of credit to Liberty," said Labrador.  "They played great, position by position.  We couldn't find a matchup where we could score.  I'm happy we were able to win a back-and-forth set, that went into extended points and was in front of a large, boisterous crowd.  We found some good poise down the stretch of the second set.

Navy ended the match with more aces (8-5), fewer service errors (3-9) and the same number of blocks as Liberty (11).  The Flames pounded down 16 more kills than the Mids (62-46) to hold a .225-.082 advantage in hitting percentage.

Herman led the Navy offense with 12 kills, Llewellyn finished with 11 kills, Lynch dropped in three aces and totaled 21 digs and both Klemeyer and Stowell finished the night with five blocks.