EASTON, Pa. -- Farrah Eike and Ava Toppin combined for over half of the kills posted by the Navy volleyball team during a 3-0 victory over Lafayette, Saturday evening at the Kirby Sports Center in Easton, Pa.  The Mids (6-9, 2-4) snapped a three-match losing streak with the 25-22, 25-20, 25-18 victory over the Leopards (6-9, 2-4).

"Our goal tonight was to control the ball well enough to balance our offense," said Navy head coach Paco Labrador, "and we did a great job doing both tonight."

Set One
The score was tied five times through 11-11, then Navy opened up a 15-12 lead at the media timeout.  The Mids took a four-point lead at 16-12, after which began a series of sideouts that made the score 19-15, then a Lafayette attack error stretched the lead to five points at 20-15 and resulted in a timeout being called by the Leopards.

The teams pretty much exchanged points again to keep the margin at either four or five points, then the Leopards closed to within 23-20 and Labrador called timeout.  Another Lafayette kill made the score 23-21, then a service error by the Leopards took Navy to set point with a 24-21 lead.  A Lafayette kill closed the difference to two points (24-22), which had Labrador calling his second timeout.  A kill by Eike closed out the frame.

Set Two
Lafayette jumped out to a 6-1 lead at the start of the set, which caused an early timeout by Navy.  The Mids responded and closed to within one point at 8-7, which was followed by a Lafayette timeout.  The Navy run continued as back-to-back kills and an ace gave it a 10-8 lead.   The score would go on to be tied several times, including at 13-13.  The Mids promptly went on a 5-1 run to take an 18-14 lead and have Lafayette call its second timeout.

A Navy block made the score 19-14, then the Mids took a 20-15 lead.  Back-to-back Lafayette points on a kill by the Leopards and a Navy attack error made it a 20-17 score, and led to Labrador calling timeout.  A Navy blocking error cut the lead to 20-18, then kills by first Toppin and then Eike made it a 22-18 lead.  The teams traded the next four points, then a Lafayette attack error gave the Mids the frame. 

Set Three
The teams were playing point-for-point with each other until Navy took a 12-8 lead.  The Mids stretched the advantage out to 15-9 at the media timeout.  Lafayette answered and a pair of service aces made it a 15-13 Navy lead and resulted in a second Navy timeout being called.  The Leopards quickly closed to within one point at 15-14 and 16-15.  Navy responded by scoring the ensuing five points to take a 21-15 lead.  That was enough of a cushion for the Mids to close out the set and the match.

Statistical Summary
Navy's offense tallied 47 kills and a .244 hitting percentage, while its defense limited Lafayette to 30 kills and a .091 hitting effort.  

Individually, Eike recorded 15 kills and a .483 hitting percentage while Toppin posted 10 kills and a .471 hitting match.  Defensively, Amara Chambers totaled 14 digs and setter Lainey Feighery had 10 digs to go along with her 14 assists.

"After a tough defensive match Friday at Lehigh, we bounced back with great effort today," said Labrador.  Every player had at least a couple of digs, and that's the goal.  We are looking forward to what we've learned this weekend and continuing to improve."

Up Next
Navy returns home to play host to Colgate on Friday and Bucknell on Saturday.