ANNAPOLIS, Md. -- The Navy volleyball team closed its non-league slate by posting a pair of sweeps Saturday in the Wesley A. Brown Field House in Annapolis. The Mids (4-5) registered a 25-17, 28-26, 25-17 victory over Le Moyne (1-7) and a 25-15, 25-17, 25-18 win over Hampton (1-7).
Navy 3, Le Moyne 1
"We set a goal to start fast, play clean and up our tempo," said Navy head coach
Paco Labrador. "We certainly achieved that goal in set one."
Set One
Navy scored the first five points of the match and soon built leads of 10-3 and 15-9. The Dolphins rallied and closed to within two points at 15-13, but a 5-0 run by the Mids gave them enough of a cushion to claim the opening set.
The Mids hit .480 in the set and held the Dolphins to a .154 hitting mark.
Set Two
The score was tied 15 times and the lead changed hands on seven occasions. The score was knotted at every point from 15-15 through 26-26.
Le Moyne held set point at 24-23 and 25-24, then the Mids served for the frame at 26-25. After the teams traded sideouts, a second-straight kill from
Anuhea Hauanio-Lore closed the extended frame.
Set Three
What would prove to be the final set was close early on, then Navy opened up a 17-10 lead.
Statistical Summary
Navy's offense totaled 42 kills and a .284 hitting match while its defense allowed just 29 kills and a .105 hitting percentage to Le Moyne. Helping the Navy defense to that advantage was a 9-4 edge in kills.
Ava Toppin led the offense with 11 kills and a .611 hitting percentage.
Navy libero
Amara Chambers totaled 10 digs, seven assists and three aces. Additionally,
Julia Humphrey had four blocks while setter
Arleigh Hanson and middle blocker
Grace Burgoyne each finished with three blocks.
"Credit Le Moyne for fighting back in set two," said Labrador. "We stayed poised and found some nice service runs in set three to finish the match.
"Ava continues to be incredibly efficient, even with opponents overloading their block to stop her.
Ellen Gundlach (7 kills) gets more comfortable each moment she is on the court. It is great to see her start to mix up her attack choices. It is nice to see
Farrah Eike (6 kills) healthy and contributing to our outside hitting and passing."
Navy 3, Hampton 0
"The team executed our game plan really well tonight," said Labrador. "There were a couple of matchups we liked and our ball control allowed us to achieve the goal we had set before the match."
Set One
The opening frame was a close one until Navy turned an 11-10 lead into a 17-10 advantage.
The Mids had five players tally at least two kills in the set and Navy as a team hit .231. The Navy defense held Hampton to a (-).054 hitting percentage.
Set Two
The second set was similar to the first in that the Mids built some separation in the middle part of the stanza. It was a 12-11 Navy lead when a 4-0 run made it a 16-11 advantage. The margin would be at least four points over the remainder of the set.
Set Three
The teams traded points through the middle of the set, which included Hampton holding a 14-12 lead. Three-straight attack errors by the Pirates -- the last two coming on Navy blocks -- followed by back-to-back Navy kills made the score 17-14 in favor of the Mids. Another Hampton attack error and a pair of aces from Chambers stretched the margin out to 20-14 and closed an 8-0 run.
Statistical Summary
Navy recorded 43 kills and a .286 hitting percentage and held Hampton to 25 kills and a .041 hitting effort. Navy also dropped in seven aces and allowed just two.
Chambers had another solid evening with 12 kills, six assists ad three aces.
Caroline Buffum paced the Navy offense with 11 kills, Humphrey had six kills on seven swings, Lainey Feighey notched a double-double of 12 assists and 11 digs and Toppin added five blocks.
"Ellen (9 kills) had a good mix of hard swings and smart shots that really helped us generate some separation. Julia was huge for us at the net with an incredibly efficient attacking percentage. It was
Isa Boyd's birthday today and she set one of the best matches of her career. Her 53 percent assist percentage is the highest we have had all season.
"This was a great way to build up to the beginning of league play and the Star Match on Friday."
Up Navy
Navy remains at home to begin Patriot League play by facing Army Friday at 7 p.m. in the Star Match and Holy Cross Saturday at 4 p.m.
