WORCESTER, Mass. -- After a slow start to the match, the Navy volleyball team settled in and posted a sweep of Holy Cross, Saturday afternoon in Worcester, Mass.  The Mids (10-2, 2-1) defeated the Crusaders (3-10, 0-4), 25-22, 25-16, 25-16, as Jordan Llewellyn and Anna Klemeyer each recorded double-figure kills and hit over .400 for Navy.

Today's match was played less than 18 hours after the Mids lost a five-set match at Colgate and Holy Cross lost a four-set match at home to American.

"I thought we did a great job of executing our blocking and overall defensive plan today," said Navy head coach Paco Labrador.  "Holy Cross has some powerful hitters that can really stretch you."

Set One
Holy Cross jumped out to a 10-2 lead and soon led, 16-8.  Half of those points for the Crusaders came from the two service lines as the Mids had four service errors and Holy Cross registered four aces.  Navy climbed back into the set with a 7-0 run to close to within 16-15, then tied the score at 17-17.  The score would again be tied at 20-20, then Holy Cross scored back-to-back points to take a 22-20 lead.  A service error allowed the Mids to cut the lead in half, then a kill by setter Averi Miller tied the set at 22-22.

A Holy Cross attack error followed to give Navy a 23-22 advantage.  That was followed by a ball-handling error on the Crusaders to take the Mids to set point with a 24-22 lead.  Another Holy Cross attack error closed the set.

Navy outhit Holy Cross, .214 to (-).040 in the set, as the Mids had 11 kills and five attack errors and the Crusaders registered seven kills and eight errors.  Navy ended the set with three aces and six service errors, while Holy Cross had four aces and two errors from the service line.

Set Two
Navy was able to take several four-point leads in the early part of the frame, but Holy Cross closed to within one point at 13-12.  A 4-0 run by the Mids extended the advantage to 17-12 and resulted in Holy Cross calling its second timeout.  The score soon became 20-15 in favor of the Mids, then they tallied five of the next six points to build the 2-0 advantage.

The Mids had 16 kills and three attack errors in the set while the Crusaders had nine kills and seven errors.

Set Three
Navy led, 7-5, then rattled off the next seven points to take a 14-5 lead.  Holy Cross son winnowed the margin down to three points at 18-15.  It was a 20-16 Navy lead when an attack error by the Crusaders followed by a Navy ace stretched the lead to 22-16.  The Mids scored the ensuing three points, as well, to win the set and the match.

Statistical Notes
After the 16-8 start to the match for Holy Cross, the Mids outscored the Crusaders, 67-38.

Navy held slim leads of 41-36 in digs and 7-6 in blocks, but outhit Holy Cross, .301-.032.  The Mids recorded 38 kills and allowed 26. The serving stats ended with Navy totaling five aces and nine errors and Holy Cross having nine aces and six errors.

Llewellyn paced Navy with 13 kills on 26 swings (.423) and Klemeyer posted 10 kills on 20 attempts (.400).  Klemeyer and fellow middle hitter Maggie Bodman each had three blocks.

"Anna continues to play with all-out speed and effort," said Labrador.  "She is one of the hardest working middles I have ever coached, and it is showing in her numbers.  With Maggie as the other middle, we always have serious threats in all of our patterns.

"Jordan used a really smart mix of speed and angles in her swings.  She was seeing the court really well and making aggressive decisions."

Paige Buzzerio saw her most extensive playing time of the season and she responded with six kills and no errors on 14 attempts (.429) to go along with seven digs.

"Paige came off the bench and played a smart, aggressive match," said Labrador.  "She gave us the spark we needed in set one."

Leading the Navy passers was Hannah Hoover with 17 digs.

"Hannah was excellent in all phases of the game today," said Labrador.  "She served a ton of points for us, passed a huge area of the court and played great defense."

Up Next
Navy returns home for matches Friday against Bucknell and Saturday against Lafayette.