EASTON, Pa. -- After taking a 2-1 lead in sets, the Navy volleyball team rallied from a 21-12 deficit in the fourth set to win the frame and record a 25-20, 20-25, 25-22, 31-29 victory over Lafayette, Saturday evening at the Kirby Sports Center in Easton Pa.    The Mids have now won three of their last four matches.

Navy senior libero Hannah Hoover grabbed the 1,000th dig of her career in the waning stages of the fourth set.

"The depth of the team was the difference maker today," said Navy head coach Paco Labrador.  "Lafayette had a great game plan against a few of our primary players and we struggled to find our connections in all phases of the game in sets one and two.

"This was a gut check match and I am proud of the total team effort to earn the win."

Set One
It was a close set with neither team holding any kind of advantage until Anuhea Hauanio-Lore posted back-to-back kills to give Navy a 20-17 lead.  It became a 21-17 cushion following a Lafayette attack error and eventually was a 23-18 advantage for the Mids.

Defenses dominated in set one as the Mids hit .146 and the Leopards .041.

Set Two
Lafayette held a pair of four-point leads (12-8, 13-9), but the score would be tied at 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18 and 20.  Lafayette scored the next five points to even the match at one set each.

Set Three
The score was tied eight times, then Lafayette took three-point leads at 19-16 and 20-17.  Navy quickly scored the next four points to take a 21-20 lead.  After a sideout by the Leopards tied the score at 21-21, the Mids scored the next three points on back-to-back kills by Lilah Stevens and then a block by the tandem of Stevens and Emerson Lionberger to take a 24-21 lead.  An exchange of points gave the Mids the set.

Set Four
Lafayette jumped out to leads of 7-1, 9-2, 19-10 and 21-12.  The Mids stormed back and pulled to within three points at 23-20.  Lafayette scored the next point to reach set point at 24-20.  Navy responded with the ensuing four points to tie the score at 24-24.  The teams exchanged sideouts (25-25), then a kill by Stevens gave the Mids the chance to serve for the match with a 26-25 lead.  A Navy attack error tied the score at 26-26, then another kill by Stevens returned the serve to Navy (27-26).

Each team had swings to win the next point, but it went Lafayette's way on a kill (27-27).  The Leopards scored again on a Navy attack error (28-27), but Lionberger posted a kill (28-28) and then a Lafayette attack error gave the Mids another chance to serve for the match (29-28).  Lionberger committed a service error, but Lafayette's Nina Kernan did the exact same thing (30-29).  Katie Jackowski proceeded to knock down a kill to close the match.

Lafayette served for the set six times (24-20, 24-21, 24-22, 24-23, 25-24, 28-27) and Navy served for the match four times (26-25, 27-26, 29-28, 30-29).

"Not many teams can sub in virtually an entirely new starting lineup and get incredible contributions from every single player," said Labrador.

Inside the Numbers
Navy held leads of 55-47 in kills and .197-.138 in hitting percentage.  The Mids also led in digs, 79-68, with the Leopards holding an 8-5 edge in blocks.  Each team had roughly the same number of service errors -- Navy 14, Lafayette 13 -- but the Leopards had a 9-3 lead in aces.

Stevens entered tonight's match with 16 kills in 11 matches on the year.  She posted 14 kills on 30 swings this evening, with 12 of those kills coming during the third and fourth sets.

Defensively, Hoover totaled 17 digs, setter Arleigh Hanson snared 16 digs to go along with 31 assists and Anuhea Hauanio-Lore finished with 10 digs.

Additional reserves who played well down the stretch were Doris Nelson (two kills and five digs in the fourth set), Lionberger (seven kills and four digs over sets three and four), Amara Chambers (three digs during sets three and four) and Jackowski (five kills in set four, seven over the last two sets).

Hoover at 1,000 Digs
Hoover becomes the fifth Mid during the rally scoring era and the seventh in school Division I history (since 1995) to record 1,000 career digs.  She is the first Mid to reach the plateau since Patrica Mattingly in 2018.

"Hannah has been a tremendous defender, teammate and leader on this team," said Labrador.  "I'm thrilled she was able to achieve this milestone.  It's a reflection of hard work in the gym, in the film room and in the weight room."

Up Next
These two teams will meet in the Wesley A. Brown Field House in one week (Oct. 19).