NORFOLK, Va. -- The Navy (3-6) volleyball team closed its pre-Patriot League slate of matches by defeating Notre Dame (3-5) in four sets, Saturday afternoon at the ODU Volleyball Center in Norfolk, Va.  The Mids, who saw eight of their 13 sets during their three matches in Norfolk decided by just two points, registered a 25-12, 25-27, 25-17, 27-25 victory over the Irish.

The match was the first between the teams and Navy's first against a current Atlantic Coast Conference team in six seasons.  The last time the Mids defeated a current ACC team was Oct. 2, 2981, when Navy defeated Virginia in a match that was the best of three sets.

"Our blocking and defense as a whole were really dialed in," said Navy head coach Paco Labrador.  "Notre Dame used several different lineups and I thought we did a great job immediately adapting to their changes."

Setter Averi Miller (Jr., Phoenix, Ariz.), who surpassed 1,000 assists for her career in today's match (1,031), was named to the all-tournament team.  She averaged 10.85 assists and 2.46 digs per set over the course of the team's five-set loss to Old Dominion, four-set loss to East Carolina and four-set win over Notre Dame.

Set One
Notre Dame scored the first point of the match, but Navy scored 14 of the next 15 points to quickly build some separation.  The Irish were able to only close to within seven points at 18-11 before the Mids won the set.

Navy registered 13 kills and just three attack errors on 28 attempts for a .357 hitting percentage in the set.  Helping Navy to that percentage was Maggie Bodman (Jr., Northbrook, Ill.), who had five kills on five swings.

Defensively, the Mids limited Notre Dame to four kills and forced seven attack errors on 25 attempts for a (-).120 mark.

Set Two
The teams saw the score tied 13 times and the lead change hands three times in the frame.  Notre Dame held a very slim lead for the majority of the set until Navy took a 21-19 lead, which soon became 23-20.  A Navy service error and a replay reversal on a Navy attack made the score 23-22.  Another Navy attack error followed to tie the score, then the Irish reached set point with a kill.

Navy answered with a kill by Jamie Llewellyn (Jr., Port Deposit, Md.) to tie the score at 24-24.  A service error by the Mids gave Notre Dame a second chance to serve for the set, but Llewellyn followed with a kill to extend the frame.  The Irish would win the set following a block and a Navy hitting error.

The Mids tallied 16 kills in the set to better the 12 posted by the Irish, but Navy also had six more hitting errors (9-3) than Notre Dame.

Set Three
Navy put together early leads of 6-0 and 10-2 on its way to building a 2-1 lead in sets.

The Mids held just a 12-10 lead in kills, but also dropped in three aces and did not allow one while committing one service error against the three by Notre Dame.

Set Four
Navy built a lead of as many as five points at 19-14 before Notre Dame took a 22-19 advantage.  Miller fed Jordan Llewellyn (Jr., Port Deposit, Md.) for a kill, then a Navy block followed by another kill by Jordan Llewellyn tied the set at 22-22.  A ball handling error by Miller was followed by a kill from Ashley Warren (Jr., Pennington, N.J.) to tie the score again at 23-23.  

Jamie Llewellyn and Anna Klemeyer (Jr., Sarasota, Fla.) combined for a block to give the Mids match point.  It was erased by a Notre Dame kill, then the Irish served for the set at 25-24 following a service ace.  A service error followed to tie the score for the 10th time in the set at 25-25.  Consecutive kills by Jamie Llewellyn gave the Mids the match that lasted one minute shy of two hours.

The Llewellyn twins combined for 11 kills in what proved to be the final set of the match, with Jordan registering seven and Jamie four.

Statistical Summary
Navy led Notre Dame in kills (57-40), hitting percentage (.254-.120), aces (5-3), digs (51-41) and blocks (10-7).

"Our passers fought really hard today," said Labrador.  "Notre Dame is an extremely aggressive serving team and our backcourt really stepped up.  That really helped us balance out the offense and get Maggie and Anna involved in the middle."

Jordan Llewellyn led all players with 15 kills, Warren posted 14 kills and a .571 attack percentage (two errors, 21 attempts) and Jamie Llewellyn had 12 kills.  Miller dished out 45 assists and just missed a double-double with nine digs.  Defensively, Hannah Hoover (So., Katy, Texas) snared a match-high 18 digs and Klemeyer tallied seven blocks.

Up Next
Navy begins Patriot League play with matches Friday at Holy Cross and Saturday at Army.

"We still have plenty of work to do over the coming week to build upon the experiences we had this weekend," said Labrador.