ANNAPOLIS, Md. -- Farrah Eike and Anuhea Hauano-Lore combined for 25 kills during a four-set victory by the Navy volleyball team over Loyola, Thursday night at the Wesley A. Brown Field House in Annapolis.  The Mids (5-18, 5-9) defeated the Greyhounds (9-14, 7-7), 25-17, 22-25, 25-21, 25-21.

"I think the level we played at during set one established the tone for the match," said Navy head coach Paco Labrador.  "When you are at home, you need to start fast and establish your hitters early.  Our passers allowed us to do just that."

Set One
Navy scored five of the first six points of the set on its way to taking a 10-5 lead.  Loyola closed to within three points at 11-8 only to see the Mids build a 17-10 cushion.

Each team totaled 12 kills in the set, but the Mids outhit the Greyhounds, .385-.172.  Navy also registered four aces and didn't surrender an ace to Loyola.

Set Two
Loyola was the team to take a 10-5 lead in the second set. Navy closed to within one point at 17-16 and tied the set at 19-19. Back-to-back Loyola points gave the visitors a 21-19 lead.  The teams traded sideouts to make the score 24-22 in favor of Loyola, then the Greyhounds scored on a kill off of their serve to win the frame.

Navy posted a slightly better hitting percentage, .167-.073, but was on the short end of kills, 13-10.

Set Three
Loyola again took a 10-5 lead in the set, with Navy quickly tying the score at 13-13.  The teams traded points (14-14), then the Greyhounds took a 17-14 lead.  Hauanio-Lore posted a kill (17-15), then drooped back to the service line.  The Mids would score the ensuing four points to take a 19-17 lead.

Navy was able to take a three-point lead at 21-18, but Loyola responded with a 3-0 run to tie the score at 21-21.  Eike broke the tie with a kill, then Ava Toppin registered a block to double the lead to 23-21.  Lilly Lutz followed with a kill to take the Mids to set point, which they converted on a Loyola attack error.

Navy had its best hitting frame of the night as it posted 15 kills and a .353 percentage to better the 10 kills and .081 effort by Loyola.  The Greyhounds stayed in the stanza thanks to tallying five aces.

Set Four
Loyola held an 8-7 lead before building a 15-11 advantage.  A service error by the Greyhounds made the score 15-12, then a run of six-straight points by Navy included four kills from Hauanio-Lore and a block by the tandem of Hauanio-Lore and Toppin.  That stretched the lead for the Mids to 18-15.

The Greyhounds battled back to within one point at 19-18.  A kill by Eike and a Loyola attack error gave the Mids a 21-18 lead.  Eike committed an attack error but immediately posted another kill to make the score 22-19.  Eike and Julia Humphrey combined for a block to make it a four-point margin at 23-19.  Back-to-back kills by the Greyhounds sliced the lead in half (23-21), then another kill by Eike gave the Mids the chance to serve for the match with a 24-21 lead.  A Loyola attack error ended the nearly two-hour match.

Eike and Hauanio-Lore each posted five kills in the final set, with the rest of the team combining six kills.  

Inside the Numbers
Navy posted 53 kills and a .299 hitting percentage while Loyola tallied 44 kills and a .088 hitting night.  The Mids also posted 12 blocks, which ranks second on the season to the 15 they accrued in a five-set match at Army.  The Greyhounds finished the night with six blocks.

"We have really pushed our blockers to be more impactful over the last few weeks," said Labrador, "and tonight we saw some nice moves from everyone."

The service line is where Loyola recorded a bunch of points as it finished +8 in points to Navy.   The Greyhounds had 11 aces and seven service errors while the Mids had six aces and 10 errors.

Eike led the Navy offense with 15 kills and she did so while hitting .316 on her 38 swings.  Hauanio-Lore tallied 10 kills, six digs and three blocks.  Humphrey recorded an error less hitting night with nine kills on 14 attempts for a .643 percentage.  Toppin dropped in four aces and had a hand in six blocks.

"Julia is taking some smart swings and continues to be a dangerous threat," said Labrador.  "Farrah keeps learning and adding to her shot selection.  Anuhea came up huge in sets three and four.  She really moved the ball around and found the floor in a variety of ways."

Up Next
Navy will play Saturday at American and close the regular season by playing host to Holy Cross on Nov. 16.