ANNAPOLIS, Md. --
Jamie Llewellyn registered 16 of her career-high 24 kills in the last half of a 3-1 victory by the Navy volleyball team over Old Dominion, Saturday night at the Wesley A. Brown Field House. The Mids (4-1) defeated the Monarchs (4-2), 23-25, 25-16, 25-17, 25-14.
Old Dominion defeated Navy in five sets during the 2022 season.
The match was the third to be played on the day and fifth as part of the Kristen Dickmann Invitational. Old Dominion defeated Utah Valley in five sets and Maryland defeated Utah Valley in four sets earlier in the day. The results sets up a tournament championship match Sunday between the Mids and the Terps as each team has defeated the Monarchs and Wolverines on the first two days of the event. The teams will meet at 2 p.m.
Llewellyn's 24 kills bettered her career high of 18, which was set during a five-set match. The total also ranks second to a 28-kill five-set effort in the Kristen Dickmann Invitational and tied the facility record for kills in a four-set match (tied for third overall). Additionally, she fell three kills short of tying the Navy record for kills in a four-set match.
"Jamie was incredible tonight," said Navy head coach
Paco Labrador. "She was making smart choices and hitting with great vision. Sometimes when you are striking the ball well as a hitter, it also helps your serve. That certainly was the case tonight as Jamie had four aces in the stats and virtually all of her serves were a struggle for Old Dominion to handle."
Set One
Old Dominion took an 11-4 lead on Navy, but the Mids were able to tie the score at 18-18 and take a 22-21 lead. The Monarchs scored the next three points to take a 24-21 lead. A kill from
Anna Klemeyer extended the frame, but a sideout by ODU on a kill closed out the set.
Set Two
Navy scored seven of the first 10 points of the set and would later go on a 4-0 run to build a 16-9 advantage. The cushion would grow to as many as 10 points at 21-11.
The Mids posted 12 kills in sets one and two, but hit .129 in the former (12-8-31) and .450 in the latter (12-3-20). Additionally, Navy limited Old Dominion to a .100 hitting percentage (8-6-20) in set two after it hit .294 in set one (15-5-34).
Set Three
The score was tied at 5-5, but an ensuing 6-0 run by Navy opened up an 11-5 lead. Those six points were scored on five
Jamie Llewellyn kills and one Old Dominion attack error. The Mids maintained a lead of at least four points (12-8, 14-10) over the remainder of the stanza.
Llewellyn posted 12 kills and hit .667 (12-2-15) in the third set, while the Monarchs as a team tallied seven kills and a .135 attack percentage.
Set Four
Navy build some separation in the fourth set around the same time as it did in the third set. The Mids turned as 6-5 deficit into a 10-6 advantage. The Monarchs closed to within two points at 10-8, but the Mids scored seven of the next eight points to build a 17-9 lead.
Each team registered 10 kills in what would be the final set, but Navy also had only two attack errors, five aces and two blocks in contrast to five hitting errors, zero aces and no blocks for Old Dominion.
Llewellyn tallied four kills and no attack errors on six swings in the set.
Statistical Notes
Navy posted 14 aces and 11 service errors, while Old Dominion finished with two aces and nine errors from the service line. Navy had only one fewer attack errors (20-19), but had 12 more kills (52-40) to outhit the Monarchs, .311-.200.
Llewellyn totaled 16 kills and five errors on 21 attempts over the last two sets for a hitting percentage in that span of .714. She ended the match with 24 kills and five errors on 40 swings for a healthy hitting percentage of .475.
Joining her in having a productive match was her twin sister, Jordan Lewellyn, who recorded 17 kills, a .281 attack percentage, two aces, eight digs and four blocks.
"Old Dominion plays a very fast system with solid hitters who attack high and hard," said Labrador. "It took a good portion of the first set to settle in. Once we did, I thought we played a very steady and methodical match."
