ANNAPOLIS, Md. -- A career-best 11 kills by Lilly Lutz was not enough for the Navy volleyball team as the Mids fell to American in three-sets, 25-18, 25-11, 25-19, Saturday night at the Wesley A. Brown Field House in Annapolis.

"American played an extremely efficient match," said Navy head coach Paco Labrador of the Eagles, who have lost only one set in winning their last three matches to improve their record on the year to 12-2.  "We had some strong play, but American played a clean match."

Set One
The score was tied 12 times and there were six lead changes.  The Mids were within one point at 16-15 when the Eagles scored the next four points to build a 20-16 advantage.  After a Navy kill made it a three-point margin (20-17), American tallied the ensuing four points to reach set point at 24-17.

Set Two
The Eagles jumped out to leads of 4-1 and 8-3 to build an early cushion.  Sophia Nagy accounted for four of American's six aces in the frame.

Set Three
American again scored four of the first five points of the set, but this time couldn't shake Navy until toward the end of the stanza.  The Mids winnowed the margin down to one point at 10-9, only to see the Eagles push their lead out to five points at 15-10.  Back came Navy and it again was a one-point difference at 17-16 and 18-17.  A Navy blocking error, an American block and a Navy attack error pushed the lead for the Eagles out to 21-17.  Then an American kill and an attack error by the Mids made it a 23-17 score.

Statistical Summary
The Eagles finished with nine aces and an equal number of service errors while the Mids totaled two aces and 11 service errors.

American also held leads of 37-24 in kills and .267-.070 in hitting percentage.

Lutz added a .308 hitting percentage to her 11 kills to pace the Navy offense.  The senior has totaled 45 kills this year after she had not tallied a kill in her first three seasons.  Setter Arleigh Hanson tallied 11 assists and a team-high eight digs.

"Lilly was really working hard tonight," said Labrador.  "By the middle of the second set, American overloaded its defense to stop her and she still produced for us."

Up Next
Navy will play at Loyola Sunday at 2 p.m.