OREM, Utah -- A marathon opening day of volleyball ended with Navy winning the highest scoring set in program history to defeat 2025 Western Athletic Conference-favorite Utah Valley (1-1) in four sets (25-15, 26-28, 25-16, 39-37), Friday night at the UCCU Center in Orem, Utah.  

The Mids (1-1) began the day with a five-set (25-27, 25-21, 24-26, 25-12, 15-12) loss to Boise State (1-1).

The previous record for the most points in a Navy set during the 25-point rally scoring era (since 2008) was 34-32 and accomplished three times with the last being in 2019 (the NCAA record for the most points in a set is 46-44).

"There are lots of ways to feel proud about a performance," said Navy head coach Paco Labrador late Friday night, "but this might be the most proud I've ever been.  The resilience of this team is a shining example that the Naval Academy is producing the finest future leaders of our nation."

Boise State 3, Navy 2 
Set One
There were 11 ties and six lead changes in the first set of the season.

Boise State took a 12-7 lead and maintained the advantage until a 3-0 run gave Navy a 19-18 lead. The score would be tied at 19-19 and 20-20, then the Broncos took a 22-20 lead.  The Mids rallied to take a 24-23 lead on a blocking error, but a Boise State kill extended the set. A kill by Paige Buzzerio again allowed the Mids to serve for the frame, but another kill by the Broncos continued play.  Buzzerio registered her seventh kill of the set to match her previous career high for kills in a match and give the Mids a third opportunity to close out the set.  They did so this time on a block by the tandem of Anuhea Hauanio-Lore and Julia Humphrey.

Set Two
The Broncos scored the opening two points of the set and never trailed on their way to leveling the match at one set each.  The Mids hit a healthy .295 in the set but allowed Boise State to hit .340.

Set Three
The first set of the contest featured 11 ties and six lead changes.  The third set saw 19 ties and eight lead changes.  The largest lead for either team in the middle frame was three points and that came when Boise State held a 9-6 advantage.

The score was tied down the stretch at 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 21, 22 and 23.  Buzzerio took the Mids to set point (24-23) with a kill only to see a corresponding kill by Boise State tie the frame at 24-24. Humphrey tallied a kill of her own, then an attack error by the Broncos gave Navy a 2-1 lead.

Navy hit .371 in the set with 15 kills and only two attack errors.

Set Four
Similar to set two, Boise State took an early lead (3-0) and never relinquished it.  Some new faces entered the Navy lineup late in the set as the Mids totaled six kills and six attack errors in contrast to the 16 kills and two attack errors recorded by the Broncos.

Set Five
Boise State took an early 6-3 lead before the Mids went on a 4-0 run to take a 7-6 advantage.  The score would be tied at 7, 8, 9, 10, 11 and 12.  The Broncos posted back-to-back kills to reach match point, then a Navy attack error ended the match after nearly 140 minutes.

Statistical Summary
Boise State's offense recorded 80 kills and a .284 attack percentage in contrast to the 57 kills and .211 hitting effort by Navy.  Both teams had four service aces and nine service errors.  Defensively, the Broncos finished with 89 digs and 8.0 blocks while the Mids registered 69 digs and 12.0 blocks.

Buzzerio had 17 kills to lead the Mids while also adding a .302 attack percentage and seven digs.  Ava Toppin posted 12 kills, a .314 hitting percentage and a career-best nine blocks.  Setter Arleigh Hanson had another double-double with 48 assists and a career-high 19 digs.  Hauanio-Lore finished with nine kills, 17 digs and five blocks, while Amara Chambers snared 18 digs in her first match as Navy's libero.

"I thought we started the match playing the best volleyball Navy has played in a long time," said Labrador.  "All phases of the game were sharp.  First matches are always tough because there really is no scouting report, but we did a great job of making immediate tactical upgrades to adjust to Boise State.

"Boise passed us exceptionally well, so our blocking and defense were stretched all match by their middles.  We never found a solution to that, which is something we certainly will take into account with our training this week.  Paige really carried us on the left and passed as well as I have seen her.  Ava and Julia were huge for our offense, and it was great to see us finish with more blocks than Boise."

Navy 3, Utah Valley 1
Set One
Not long after the Mids fell in five sets to the Broncos, Utah Valley rallied from an 0-2 deficit to defeat Montana in five sets.  The Wolverines carried that momentum into the match against the Mids as they jumped out to leads of 5-0 and 9-1 and claimed the opening set.

Utah Valley posted 17 kills and hit .406 and limited Navy to six kills and a .040 hitting percentage.

Set Two
Navy bounced back with a 9-4 start to the second set. The Mids held the lead until a 4-0 run by Utah Valley gave it a 21-19 lead.  Navy tied the score at 21-21, then the teams played sideout volleyball through 23-23.  Then Buzzerio grabbed her left leg after she landed following an attack and had to leave the match with the Wolverines leading 24-23.  

A Utah Valley service error tied the score at 24-24, but a kill by the home team gave it another serve for the set at 25-24.   An attack error by the Wolverines followed by a kill from Caroline Buffum gave the Mids a 26-25 lead.  Buffum was blocked after a Utah Valley timeout, but a kill from Julia Humphrey and an ace by Arleigh Hanson gave Navy the 28-26 victory. 

Set Three
The Mids took 6-0, 7-1 and 10-3 leads at the start of the set.  It soon was an 18-11 lead and Navy led by at least three points over the rest of the set.

Navy hit .281 in the set and held Utah Valley to a .034 mark.

Set Four
The frame was close from start to finish and featured 30 ties and 11 lead changes.

Navy took a 22-19 lead before Utah Valley tied the score at 22-22.  The teams traded the ensuing points, with Navy eventually serving for the match at 24-23.  From there, the score went as follows:

Navy serves, 24-23 -- match point
Utah Valley serves, 24-24
Navy serves, 25-24 -- match point
Utah Valley serves, 25-25
Navy serves, 26-25 -- match point
Utah Valley serves, 26-26
Navy serves, 27-26 -- match point
Utah Valley serves, 27-27
Navy serves, 28-27 -- match point
Utah Valley serves, 28-28
Utah Valley serves, 29-28 -- set point
Navy serves, 29-29
Utah Valley serves, 30-29 -- set point
Navy serves, 30-30
Utah Valley serves, 31-30 -- set point
Navy serves, 31-31
Navy serves, 32-31 -- match point
Utah Valley serves, 32-32
Navy serves, 33-32 -- match point
Utah Valley serves, 33-33
Navy serves, 34-33 -- match point
Utah Valley serves, 34-34
Navy serves, 35-34 -- match point
Utah Valley serves, 35-35
Utah Valley serves, 36-35 -- set point
Navy serves, 36-36
Utah Valley serves, 37-36 -- set point
Navy serves, 37-37
Navy serves, 38-37 -- match point

Finally, on Navy's 10th chance to serve for the match, after fighting off Utah Valley having five serves for the set, a block by Humphrey and Isa Boyd closed out the longest set in Navy history.

As to be expected, the statistics between the teams in the final set were remarkably similar.  Navy had 26 kills and 10 errors on 65 swings (.246) while Utah Valley had 25 kills and 10 errors on 64 attempts (.234).  Individually, freshman Caroline Buffum posted 10 kills for Navy in the set. This is after she didn't play in the first set and totaled six kills in sets two and three.

Statistical Summary
Utah Valley held slight leads in kills (62-58) and hitting percentage (.188-.172) and more of a lead in blocks (14-9).  Navy was a little better at the service line as the Mids were +3 (9 aces, 6 errors) and the Wolverines were -2 (6 aces, 8 errors).

Buffum finished with 16 kills and her freshman classmate Ellen Gundlach tallied 12 kills and a .348 hitting percentage.  Humphrey totaled nine kills and one error on 20 swings (.400) and added five blocks.  Hanson had another double-double of 30 assists and 11 digs while fellow setter Boyd posted 14 assists and 15 digs.

"We have focused all preseason on 'out-teaming' our opponents and we certainly leaned into that tonight," said Labrador.  "Playing the second match of the day is always tough on our bodies and I couldn't be more impressed by our team physicality late in the match. Our freshmen stepped up in a huge way on a huge stage.  The future certainly is bright!"

Up Next
Navy remains in Utah overnight and will play Montana Saturday at 2 p.m. ET.