BALTIMORE, Md. -- On a night when the offense for the Navy volleyball team was slowed, the Mids found other ways to manufacture points and that resulted in their emerging with a hard-fought four-set victory over Loyola, Friday night at Reitz Arena in Baltimore.  Navy (9-1, 1-0) defeated Loyola (5-6, 0-1), 25-22, 25-22, 18-25, 25-23, in a two-hour match to open the Patriot League season.

Playing for the first time without an injured Jamie Llewellyn, who entered the day ranked third nationally in aces and 38th in the country in kills, the Mids were on the short end in both kills and hitting percentage this evening.  Loyola held leads of 55-38 in kills and .189-.121 in hitting percentage.

"Loyola has always been at the top of the league defensively," said Navy head coach Paco Labrador, "and they certainly were exceptional tonight.  I thought we did a great job of grinding out points and finding ways to score."

Navy has now won eight-straight matches, which ties the longest winning streak during the program's Division I era (since 1991).  Navy's 2017 team also won eight matches in a row.  Also, the only other Navy Division I team to start a season with a 9-1 record was the 2004 team.  That year's team began the year with a 10-1 record.

The Mids had lost to Loyola on their 2021 and 2022 trips to Baltimore.  Six of the 11 sets played by the teams in Reitz Arena since 2021 have been decided by no more than three points.

Set One
The lead went back and forth five times in the set with the score being knotted 11 times.

What would prove to be the final tie came at 21-21 following a Loyola kill.  Navy regained the lead on a Loyola service error, then took a 23-21 advantage on a block by Maggie Bodman.  That effort was followed by a Loyola timeout.  When play resumed, a kill by the Greyhounds sliced the lead in half.  Navy reached set point when libero Hannah Hoover was credited with a kill, then Bodman registered a kill to close out the set.

Set Two
Loyola took a 14-10 lead only to see Navy notch the ensuing six points to take a 16-14 lead.  The score would be tied at both 16-16 and 17-17, then a kill by Katie Jackowski started a 4-0 Navy run.  The Greyhounds closed to within two points at 21-19 and then one point at 22-21.  A Navy timeout ensued, which was followed by a Loyola attack error.  Another sideout made the score 23-22, with yet another sideout following on a kill by Jordan Llewellyn that gave Navy the chance to serve for the stanza with a 24-22 lead.  Doris Nelson dropped in an ace to give Navy the 2-0 advantage.

Set Three
Loyola took a 13-7 lead only to see Navy close to within one point at 14-13, 15-14 and 16-15.  A 4-0 spurt by the Greyhounds gave them some separation, which was more than enough to extend the match to a fourth set.

Set Four
Navy had its best start to a set at the beginning of the frame as it jumped out to leads of 6-1 and 10-2.  Loyola answered with an 11-1 run to take a 13-11 advantage, which soon became a 17-13 lead for the Greyhounds.  The Mids responded with three kills and a block to tie the score at 17-17.

Another 3-0 run by Loyola gave the home team a 20-17 lead and on the verge of taking the match to a fifth set.  Navy had one more rally in it and scored the next five points to take a 22-20 lead.  Back came the Greyhounds with the next three points to take a 23-22 advantage.  That cushion was quickly erased on a service error.  Navy setter Averi Miller posted a kill to give the Mids a 24-23 lead on the next point.  Loyola called timeout, but when play resumed Jordan Llewellyn recorded her third ace of the night to end the match.

Statistical Notes
The Mids ended the match with six fewer hitting errors (27-21), one more ace (9-8), 10 fewer service errors (17-7) and seven more blocks (14-7) than the Greyhounds to earn the victory.

Nine Mids had at least one kill in the match, with six having at least 10 attempts.  Additionally, six players had at least two blocks.

Jordan Llewellyn led all players with 15 kills and added four blocks.  She and Nelson each tallied three aces.  Anna Klemeyer recorded six kills, a .455 hitting percentage and four blocks, while fellow middle hitter Bodman finished with five kills and seven blocks.  Hoover corralled a team-high 16 digs and was credited with two aces.  

"Anna was as dialed in as I have seen here," said Labrador.  "Loyola was overloading to her and she still was scoring.  

"Our blockers figured out some timing late in the match, and some clutch serving from Jordan was huge."

Up Next
Navy remains on the road for matches next weekend at Colgate on Sept. 22 and Holy Cross on Sept. 23.