ANNAPOLIS, Md. -- Farrah Eike recorded six of her career-high 27 kills in the fifth set as the Navy volleyball team staved off a furious rally by Lafayette to defeat the Leopards, 25-21, 25-21, 23-25, 19-25, 15-9, Saturday night at the Wesley A. Brown Field House in Annapolis.   Navy has now won three matches in a row, as well as four of its last five, and sits in a three-way tie for fifth place in the Patriot League standings.

Eike's effort broke her own school record for the most kills in a match by a freshman (20) during the rally scoring era (since 2001) and ranks second to Rachel Shropa's 29 kills (set in 1996) for the most kills by a freshman during any scoring format (since 1995).

The match was Navy's 1,000th as a Division I program (since 1991) and came during the first weekend reunion of former Navy volleyball players.

"We have played 1,000 division one matches, but this one is certainly extra meaningful," said Navy head coach Paco Labrador.  "Having a weekend reunion with alumnae and families totaling over 100 people has been inspirational for this team."

Set One
Neither team held any comfortable lead as the score was tied nine times.  An Eike kill broke an 18-18 tie, then a kill by Julia Humphrey pushed the Navy lead to 20-18.  It became a 21-18 advantage after a bad set by the Leopards, then two more Eike kills stretched the cushion to 23-18.  The Leopards drew to within two points at 23-20, then another kill by Humphrey took the Mids to set point.  The teams traded kills with a sixth by Eike closing out the frame.

Set Two
Navy tried to pull away from Lafayette as it took leads of 11-6, 13-7 and 15-9.  The Mids then led 17-12 and 20-15 before the Leopards chipped away and made it a one-point difference at 21-20.  An exchange of kills gave Navy a 22-21 lead, with a following kill from Ava Toppin making it a 23-21 lead.  Eike dropped in kills to end the next two points and give the Mids a 2-0 advantage in sets.

Set Three
The score would be tied 13 times and the lead would be exchanged on four occasions.  

The Mids took a slim 10-7 lead but soon found themselves trailing, 16-12.  Navy tied the score at 16-16.  It would be tied at 17-17 and 18-18 before back-to-back points gave the Mids a 20-18 lead. Lafayette answered with the next two points to tie the score at 20-20, then an exchange of sideouts kept the score tied at 21-21, and then another pair of sideouts tied the score at 22-22.  

Lafayette took its first lead since 17-16 when a kill by the Leopards gave them a 23-22 lead.  A service error tied the score again at 23-23, but then a service error by the Mids gave Lafayette set point (24-23).  A Navy attack error extended the match to a fourth set.

Set Four
Lafayette played its best set of the night in the fourth stanza as it quickly took a 7-3 lead.  Navy was able to stay within range of the Leopards for most of the set until Lafayette took five-point leads at 17-12, 19-14 and 20-15.  The visitors then stretched their cushion to seven points at 23-16 on their way to sending the match to a fifth set.

Set Five
Neither team held more than a one-point lead until a 3-0 spurt by Navy gave it a 6-4 advantage.  The teams traded the ensuing four points to make the score 8-6 in favor of the Mids, then a kill by Humphrey made the score 9-6.  Lafayette answered with a kill (9-7), then Anuhea Hauanio-Lore and Eike registered kills to provide Navy with an 11-7 lead.  

The Leopards answered with a kill (11-8), then a kill by Eike returned the cushion to four points (12-8).  Lafayette had scored three aces during the first four sets on serves that had hit the net and rolled over to the floor.  It was Navy's turn to benefit from such a play as Hannah Hoover was awarded an ace on one of her serves.  That gave the Mids a 13-8 lead.  Eike committed Navy's only attack error in the final set to make the score 13-9, but she followed the miscue with two more kills to end the 155-minute match.

Inside the Numbers
Navy held a 66-53 lead in kills, but the teams had a nearly identical hitting percentage (.235 for Lafayette, .233 for Navy) as the Mids had 26 attack errors to 18 for the Leopards.  The Mids were slightly better overall in serving as they totaled seven aces and nine errors to nine aces and 14 errors by the Leopards.  Also, Navy led, 66-58, in digs, but trailed, 9-6, in blocks.

Eike hit an impressive .396 on 53 swings in the match.  She totaled six kills and hit .250 in set one, had seven kills and hit .545 in set two, finished set three with five kills and a .714 hitting percentage, had three kills and a .125 hitting effort in set four and closed the match with six kills and a .455 hitting percentage in the abbreviated fifth set.

"Farrah broke a freshman record she established 15 days ago," said Labrador.  "She was playing with an excellent mix of savvy and sheer athleticism.  She puts in a lot of work daily and always lifts up her teammates with her never ending positivity."

The Mids had good balance alongside Eike as Humphrey posted 10 kills, Hauanio-Lore had nine and Toppin totaled eight.  Defensively, Hoover and Doris Nelson each had 12 digs and Amara Chambers had 11 digs.   Just missing double-digit digs were Ally Alessio with nine digs to go along with her three aces and setter Arleigh Hanson who had nine digs and 46 assists.

"When our ball control allowed it," said Labrador, "Ava and Julia really delivered some tremendous kills.  We are excited about taking this momentum into the practice week."

Up Next
Navy will play host to Colgate on Friday and Army on Saturday.