Match Information
No. 5 Navy (12-13 / 8-8) at No. 4 Bucknell (12-13 / 9-7)
Patriot League Tournament First Round
Tuesday, Nov. 18 • 6 p.m. / Davis Gym • Lewisburg, Pa.
Series - Navy leads, 42-26 / Patriot League Tournament Series - Navy leads, 4-1
Last Match - Navy, 3-1 (Oct. 18, 2025 / Lewisburg, Pa.)
Live Video - ESPN+

This Week
•    Navy heads to Lewisburg, Pa., for a Patriot League Tournament first round (quarterfinal) match against Bucknell Tuesday night at 6 p.m.
•    ESPN+ will stream the match, with a link to that as well as live statistics being found at NavySports.com.

Last Week
•    Navy's regular season finale saw it drop a four-set match at Colgate on Saturday.  The Raiders held the Mids to a .000 hitting percentage in winning sets two through four as part of a 19-25, 25-10, 25-11, 25-17 decision.

Injury Report
•    Navy is down four starters / key contributors from what was expected at the start of the season.
•    Paige Buzzerio set a career high of 17 kills in Navy's first match of the season, but suffered a knee injury later that same day in the team's second match.
•    Emerson Lionberger played in 19 matches a year ago as freshman, but a shoulder injury curtailed her 2025 season before it started.  She received limited playing time in 23 sets before being shut down.
•    Ellen Gundlach was the Patriot League Rookie of the Week on Sept. 2 and was averaging over two kills a set on the year before suffering an ankle injury Sept. 26 at American.  She made her first appearance in six weeks when she briefly played Nov. 15 at Colgate in the last match of the regular season.
•    Julia Humphrey started every match this year and averaged 1.36 kills and 1.03 blocks per set and was hitting .358 before a hip injury from last year ended her season after the Oct. 11 match against Bucknell. 
•    Additionally, Ally Alessio and Isa Boyd have missed the last several matches.

Tournament Report
•    Navy is the No. 5 seed in the Patriot League Tournament and will play its first-round match Tuesday at No. 4 Bucknell.
•    The other first-round match has No. 6 Lehigh playing at No. 3 Army.
•    American is the top-seeded team in the field and will play host to the semifinals (Nov. 21) and final (Nov. 23).  The Eagles will play the lowest seeded team from the first round in the semifinals.
•    Colgate is the No. 2 seed and will face the highest seed to come out of the first round.

Navy Tournament History
•    Navy is appearing in the Patriot League Tournament for the 21st time and enters Tuesday's match with a 19-22 record in the postseason.
•    The first round (quarterfinal) was instituted with the 2019 tournament, though it was not held during the spring of 2021 season (played in place of the 2020 fall season due to COVID).
•    Navy has posted a 4-0 record in the round.  This includes road wins by the No. 6 Mids over No. 3 Army in 2021 and by No. 5 Navy over No. 4 Bucknell in 2023.
•    Navy has advanced to at least the semifinal round 17 times, including five times under head coach Paco Labrador, and made five trips to the championship match (twice under Labrador).
•    Navy has posted a 4-1 record against Bucknell in postseason matches.

Navy vs. Bucknell in Patriot League Tournament
1993 / 1st Rd. - Navy 15-9, 15-7, 15-9
1993 / 3rd Pl. - Navy, 15-7, 15-4, 15-9
1994 / 1st Rd. - Bucknell, 15-5, 15-8, 13-15, 6-15, 15-13
1996 / SF - Navy, 17-15, 15-4, 9-15, 15-9
2023 / QF - Navy, 25-23, 25-19, 25-23

Bucknell Preview
•    Bucknell closed the regular season with an overall record of 12-13 and a Patriot League mark of 9-7.
•    The Bison have registered five-straight wins, including a five-set win over Colgate and a sweep of Army in their last two matches.

Navy vs. Bucknell Series History
•    Navy holds a 42-26 lead in the all-time series between the teams, including a 4-1 edge on league tournament matches.  The Mids also have posted a  20-13 reord in matches played in Lewisburg.  Navy won the only prior postseason match that has been played at Bucknell.
•    Navy and Bucknell met twice in a span of a week in mid October.  The Mids posted a five-set win over the Bison, 25-23, 16-25, 23-25, 25-11, 15-12, on Oct. 11 in Annapolis.  Navy then defeated Bucknell in four sets, 23-25, 25-23, 25-19, 25-17, on Oct. 18 in Lewisburg.
•    Four of the last nine matches in the series have been extended to five sets.
•    The last nine matches have included 34 sets.  Of those, 12 were decided by two points and 22 were determined by no more than five points.

Navy vs. Bucknell History
All - 42-26 (H - 18-13, R - 20-13, N - 4-0)
Div. 1 -40-26 (H - 17-13, R - 20-13, N - 3-0)
PL - 35-25 (H - 16-12, R - 19-13, N - 0-0)
PLT - 4-1 (H - 0-1, R - 1-0, N - 3-0)

Toppin Lately
•    Ava Toppin is averaging 2.57 kills (118 total) and 1.46 blocks per set (67) and hitting .427 (118-19-232) over the last 11 matches / 46 sets (Oct. 4 at Lafayette through Nov. 15 at Colgate).
•    She ranks 58th nationally with her .370 hitting percentage, 61st in the country with 119 total blocks and 87th in the NCAA with an average of 1.18 blocks per set (through matches of Sunday, Nov. 16).
•    Included in this recent span are (sets played):

15 kills, .583 (15-1-24) hit. pct., 11 blocks vs. Bucknell (5)
11 kills, .458 (11-0-24) hit. pct., 11 blocks at Holy Cross (5)
20 kills, .581 (20-2-31) hit. pct., 10 blocks vs. Loyola (4)

Five-Set Matches
•    Navy played 20 five-set matches during the 2022 (8), 2023 (7) and 2024 (5) seasons.  This includes 16 such matches against Patriot League foes during the regular season.
•    The Mids have played seven five-set matches this year, with five of those being league matches.
•    Navy also played 20 five-set matches during the rally scoring era (since 2001) over the 2005-07 and 2017-19 seasons.
•    The Mids have played 45 five-set matches under Paco Labrador (since 2018).

More Close Sets
•    Navy has played 15 sets this season (7-8 record) in which the final score has been above the 25-point mark in sets one through four and / or 15 points in set five.
•    The Mids played 12 such "overtime" sets all of last season.
•    Navy also has played 29 sets decided by two points this year (17-12 record) after it played 23 during the 2024 campaign.
•    In league matches, Navy has posted records of 20-22 in sets decided by five or fewer points, 8-7 in two-point sets and 2-4 in "overtime" sets.

Starting Lineups
•    Navy has used 18 different starting lineups (including the libero) in its 25 matches this season.
•    16 players have started at least one match this year.

Double-Doubles
•    Arleigh Hanson registered 10 assist / dig double-doubles during the 2024 season.  That tied her for sixth place for the most by a Mid during a rally scoring season.
•    She then posted double-doubles in each of the three matches at the 2025 season-opening Utah Valley Invite and added another one against Gardner-Webb.
•    Her 14 career assist / dig double-doubles ranks eighth in school history.
•    Fellow setters Isa Boyd and Lainey Feighery also have combined for 12 double-doubles this season and 15 in their careers.

Toppin Moving Up Blocks List
•    Ava Toppin is averaging over one block per set this season.  That average has allowed her to improve her standing on Navy's season and career blocks-per-set charts.

Single-Season Blocks Per Set (Since 1995)
1.    1.24    Megan O'Connell, 1997
2.    1.18    Jen Williams, 1996
3.    1.18    Ava Toppin, 2025

Single-Season Blocks Per Set - Rally Scoring Era
1.    1.18    Ava Toppin, 2025
2.    1.17    Katie Patrick, 2017

Career Blocks Per Set (Since 1995)
1.    1.00    Katie Patrick, 2015-18
2.    0.97    Ava Toppin, 2022-pres.

Career Blocks Per Set - Rally Scoring Era
1.    1.00    Katie Patrick, 2015-18
2.    0.97    Ava Toppin, 2022-pres.

Farrah as a Freshman in 2024
•    Farrah Eike earned Second-Team All-Patriot League accolades during as a freshman during the 2024 season when she led the Mids in both kills (168) and kills per set (2.67 kps).
•    She became the fifth freshman to lead Navy in both statistical categories on the Division I program and the third to do so during the rally scoring era.
•    Despite playing in just 68 of the team's 101 sets due to nursing an injury at the start of the 2025 season, she still ranks first on the team with an average of 3.09 kills per set and is second on the team to Ava Toppin's 235 kills with 210 of her own.
•    Eike tallied 26 kills in Navy's Oct. 24 five-set win over Lafayette.  The 26 kills –– on 67 attempts –– left her one shy of tying her personal high of 27.
•    Also, Eike's 26 kills ties her for ninth place at Navy for the most during the rally scoring era, while her 67 attempts ties her for sixth during a rally scoring match and seventh in school history (since 1991).  She also scooped up a career-high 16 digs.