• Navy (3-6) begins its Patriot League campaign this weekend with matches Friday at Holy Cross (2-9) and Saturday at Army (4-6).
• The latter match between the Mids and the Black Knights is this year's Star Match, part of the Army-Navy Star Series presented by USAA.
• Both matches will begin at 6 p.m. and be streamed on ESPN+.
• Live statistics will be available for each match through NavySports.com.
 
Last Week
• Navy played a trio of matches during the Quest for the Crown, hosted by Old Dominion, in Norfolk, Va.
• Eight of the team's 13 sets during the invitational were decided by just two points.
•  The score in the three matches was tied a total of 101 times.
• The Mids opened the tournament with a five-set loss (25-22, 24-26, 25-27, 25-16, 16-14) to host Old Dominion.  The match took two hours and 34 minutes and saw four sets determined by no more than three points.
• Blocking proved to be the decisive statistic as the Mids totaled four blocks and the Monarchs had 12.
• Jordan Llewellyn recorded 24 kills in the match.  It was the most kills by a Mid in three years.
• The Mids then played a two-plus hour match against East Carolina the next night.  The Pirates won the match in four sets (25-23, 26-28, 25-20, 27-25).
• Navy had 12 more kills (59-47) than ECU, but was -14 in service points.
• Jamie Llewellyn produced a double-double of 15 kills and 13 digs.  Averi Miller dished out 48 assists and added 13 digs.
• Navy closed the trip with a four-set win (25-12, 25-27, 25-17, 27-25) over Notre Dame on Saturday afternoon.
• The Mids tallied 17 more kills than Notre Dame (57-40) and also led in assists, aces, digs and blocks.
• Jordan Llewellyn had 15 kills to lead the offense.  Ashley Warren recorded 14 kills and a .571 attack percentage.  Hannah Hoover snared 18 digs.
 
Next Week
• Navy returns to Annapolis to open a five-match homestand with contests Sept. 24 against Loyola and Sept. 25 against American.  Those two teams will face each other on Sept. 23 in Washington, D.C.
 
Holy Cross Preview
• Holy Cross has posted a 2-9 record this year and will open its home season Friday against Navy.
• The Crusaders have posted wins over Merrimack and Saint Peter's and suffered losses to, among other teams, UC Irvine in three sets and NJIT in five sets.
• Navy enters the week with a 42-13 lead in the series with Holy Cross.  The Mids also lead the Crusaders, 17-8, in matches played in Worcester.
• Navy leads Holy Cross, 39-13, in Patriot League regular season matches, a record that includes a 17-8 advantage in league matches played at Holy Cross.
• Navy and Holy Cross faced each other twice in eight days last season, with the Mids winning both matches.
• Three of the six sets played last season were determined by five or fewer points.
 
Army Preview
• Army heads into a Friday night match at home against American with a 4-6 record.
• The Black Knights have posted wins over St. Francis Brooklyn, UConn, Syracuse and Hofstra.  Among Army's losses are defeats to Cal, UC San Diego, No. 25 San Diego State, No. 20 Kansas and a five-set loss to Yale.
• The Black Knights lead the all-time series with the Mids, 50-19.  This includes a 29-6 advantage in matches played at West Point.
• Army also holds a lead of 37-15 in Patriot League regular season matches played between the programs.  That advantage is 21-5 in league matches played at West Point.
• The teams met three times last year, with the road team winning all three matches.  The Black Knights defeated the Mids in four sets in the Star Match, Navy defeated Army in four sets in the return match during the regular season and the Mids won a three-set decision in the quarterfinal round of the Patriot League Tournament.
• Six of the 11 sets played by the teams last year were decided by no more than four points, which included four sets being determined by the minimum of two points.
• Army's victory in Annapolis last year ended a run of nine-straight Star Match victories by the home team (2011-19), as well as eight-straight wins by the home team overall (2016-19).
• The last time Navy won a Star Match that was played at West Point was 2005 (seven-straight losses).  The Mids lost five-set matches in 2015 (15-13 in the fifth), 2017 (15-12) and 2019 (17-15) during this span.
 
Navy vs. Major Conference Foes
• Navy's Sept. 10 match against Notre Dame marked the third foe for the Mids this season against a team from a major conference. 
• The four-set win (25-12, 25-27, 25-17, 27-25) by Navy over Notre Dame was the first victory for the Mids against an Atlantic Coast Conference team since they defeated Virginia in 1981.
• The Mids opened the year playing at Maryland, then played host to Michigan State during the second week of the season.
• Additionally, Navy's first match of the season was against Florida Gulf Coast, a team that reached the second round of the 2021 NCAA Tournament.
 
Close Sets
• Over the last four matches, 10 of Navy's 17 sets (59%)have been determined by only two points. 
• Additionally, 11 of the team's 36 sets (31%) on the season have been decided by the minimum of two points and 30 sets (83%) have been decided by five or fewer points.
• Navy had 17 sets decided by two points during the entire 2021 season.
• Navy has had nine sets this year in which the final score for the winning team surpassed either 25 points in sets one through four or 15 points in set five.  The highest point total in a set this season was a 32-30 win by VCU. 
• Navy had eight sets during the entire 2021 season in which the final score was higher than either 25 points in sets one through four or 15 points in set five.
• Holy Cross has had two of its 37 sets (5%) decided by two points and 13 sets (35%) determined by five or fewer points.
• Army has had eight of its 38 sets (21%) decided by two points and 21 sets (55%) determined by five or fewer points.
 
Miller Surpasses 1,000 Career Assists
• Averi Miller became the ninth Mid during the rally scoring era and 13th Navy setter since 1995 (when statistics became available) to surpass 1,000 career assists when she attained the milestone during Navy's Sept. 10 win over Notre Dame.
• The current junior was limited to just 69 assists as a freshman when Navy played only five matches during the 2020/21 spring COVID season.  She then amassed 646 assists in the fall of 2021 as a sophomore.