Match Information
Army (6-3 / 0-0) at Navy (4-5 / 0-0)
Friday, Sept. 19 • 7 p.m. / Wesley A. Brown Field House • Annapolis, Md.
Series - Army leads, 55-21 / Patriot League Series - Army leads, 42-16
Last Match - Army, 3-0 (Oct. 28, 2024 / Annapolis, Md.)
Live Video - ESPN+
Match sponsored by USAA

Holy Cross (4-7 / 0-0) at Navy (4-5 / 0-0)
* Holy Cross will play at Loyola (Friday) prior to playing Navy
Saturday, Sept. 13 • 1 p.m. / Wesley A. Brown Field House • Annapolis, Md.
Series - Navy leads, 48-13 / Patriot League Series - Navy leads, 45-13
Last Match - Navy, 3-0 (Nov. 16, 2024 / Annapolis, Md.)
Live Video - ESPN+

This Week
•    The 2025 Patriot League volleyball season commences this weekend for Navy with matches at home Friday against Army and Saturday against Holy Cross.
•    Friday's Star Match, part of the Army-Navy Star Series presented by USAA, begins at 7 p.m., with the Mids playing host to the Crusaders at 4 p.m. on Saturday.
•    ESPN+ will stream both matches.  Live statistics from the matches can be found at NavySports.com.

Attending the Matches
•    Only those vehicles driven by someone with a Department of Defense (DoD)-approved identification card will be allowed onto the USNA.
•    Fans without DoD approved vehicle access to the USNA must park outside of The Yard.  The simplest way to do this is to take the free shuttle bus.  
•    The shuttle bus on Friday (5:30-10 p.m.) and Saturday (3-7 p.m.) will depart from and return to Navy-Marine Corps Memorial Stadium (550 Taylor Avenue, Annapolis, Md., 21401).  Enter the blue / west parking lot through gate 5 off of Taylor Avenue.  There is a $10 per vehicle parking fee.  The free fan shuttle bus will leave from and return to the Blue Angel jet.  
•    Whether a visitor rides the shuttle bus or walks through one of the USNA gates, everyone ages 18 and over must have a valid picture ID (i.e.: State issued driver's license, student I.D., or a government issued passport). Visitors ages 17 and younger who do not have a valid picture ID must be accompanied by an adult. Foreign passports are not permitted for general access.

A Look Back at 2024
•    Navy entered the 2024 season ranked either eighth or ninth among the nine Patriot League teams in returning sets played, kills, assists, aces, digs and blocks.  No Mid had totaled either 10 kills in a match or 100 kills in a season.
•    That inexperience played out early in the year as the Mids began the season with a 0-13 record, which included three five-set losses in which the margin of defeat in each of the fifth sets was two points.
•    Navy used 19 different starting lineups a year ago, with 16 players starting at least one match.
•    The Mids used 12 different starting lineups during the 2024 league season, with 16 different players starting at least one match.
•    Navy had nine players make the first start of their respective careers last season.
•    Navy rebounded and posted a 7-5 record over the remainder of the season, including wins in its last three matches to end the campaign with an overall record of 7-18 and a Patriot League mark of 7-9.

2025 Preview
•    Unlike 2024 when the Mids did not return a starter from 2023, in 2025 Navy returns all six starters from its 2024 season.
•    The Mids finished in seventh place in the nine-team 2025 Patriot League Preseason Poll.

Last Week
•    The Mids played host to the Navy Invitational last weekend in Annapolis.
•    Navy's weekend began with a four-set loss to Gardner-Webb (25-21, 25-18, 23-25, 28-26).
•    The Mids then tallied a three-set victory over Le Moyne (2-17, 28-26, 25-17).
•    The weekend and non-league slate came to a close with a three-set win over Hampton (25-15, 25-17, 25-18). 

Army-Navy Openers
•    This is the fifth time in which Army and Navy will face each other in the first Patriot League match of a season.
•    The teams have split the four prior opening matches.
•    Friday is the second time in which the opening match is being played at Navy (2002).
•    Each of the four previous season-opening matches have been extended to five sets.

Army-Navy Opening Match Results
1999 - at Army / Navy won, 3-2
2001 - at Army / Army won, 3-2
2002 - at Navy / Navy won, 3-2
2019 - at Army / Army won, 3-2
 
Army-Navy Five-Set Matches
•    It is not uncommon for an Army-Navy match to last five sets, especially in recent years.

Army-Navy 5-Set Matches Have Been Played in ...
4 of the last 6 matches
6 of the last 12 matches
10 of the last 21 matches
17 of the 58 Patriot League regular season matches
5 of the last 9 Star Matches
15 of the 43 Star Matches in the series
22 of the 76 overall matches in the series

•    Navy has played more five-set Patriot League regular season matches against Army than any other league foe.

Most 5-Set PL Regular Season - Navy vs. Opp.
17 - Army
15 - Bucknell
14 - Lehigh

Army vs. Navy
•    Army compiled an overall record of 16-12 last year and tied for third place in the Patriot League with a 10-6 record.   The fourth-seeded Black Knights advanced to the championship match of the 2024 league tournament.
•    The Black Knights finished in second place in the 2025 Patriot League Preseason Poll.
•    Army heads to Annapolis with a 6-3 record this season.  
•    One of the losses for the Black Knights was a three-set defeat at North Carolina State.  The team also has split five-set decisions against Green Bay (won) and Hofstra (loss).
•    Army has posted a 6-5 record in sets decided by two points and a 15-7 record in five or less points.
•    The Black Knights lead the Patriot League in digs per set (16.03 dps) and kills per set (13.17 kps). 
•    Army won both matches against Navy last year, winning a five-set decision at West Point in the Star Match (25-19, 25-19, 19-25, 23-25, 17-15) and defeating the Mids in three sets in Annapolis (26-24, 25-19, 25-19).
•    Additionally, 10 of the last 41 sets (10 matches starting with the 2021 season) have been decided by two points and 21 of those 41 sets have been determined by no more than five points.
•    Individually, Army's Mackenzie Lynch (58) and Chloe Murakami (23) have totaled 81 career kills against Navy and the Black Knights as a team have tallied 127 kills against the Mids.
•    In contrast, the entire Navy team has accrued 71 career kills against Army.

Navy vs. Army History
All - 21-55 (H - 13-21, R - 6-32, N - 2-2)
Div. 1 - 19-44 (H - 11-18, R - 6-25, N - 2-1)
PL - 16-42 (H - 11-18, R - 5-24, N - 0-0)
PLT - 3-2 (H - 0-0, R - 1-1, N - 2-1)

Navy vs. Holy Cross
•    Holy Cross posted an overall record of 2-23 last year and placed ninth in the Patriot League with a 0-16 record.  
•    The Crusaders finished in ninth place in the 2025 Patriot League Preseason Poll.
•    Holy Cross enters a Friday match at Loyola with a 4-7 record this season.
•    The Crusaders, who played their first home match of the season Wednesday night, have posted a 3-1 record in five-set matches.  This includes wins over Saint Peter's (17-15 in the fifth set), Mercyhurst (15-12) and Merrimack (15-8), plus a loss to Saint Peter's (17-15).
•    Holy Cross has compiled a 10-13 record in sets decided by five or fewer points, which includes a 4-2 record in sets determined by just two points.
•    Navy defeated Holy Cross twice last season.  The Mids won a three-set match at Worcester (25-23, 25-16, 25-20) and in Annapolis (25-18, 28-26, 25-20).
•    Gabby Wold has accounted for 20 of the 32 kills totaled by Holy Cross players against Navy.
•    Navy players have tallied 72 career kills against Holy Cross.  Farrah Eike leads the team with 18.

Navy vs. Holy Cross History
All - 48-13 (H - 23-5, R - 20-8, N - 5-0)
Div. 1 - 48-13 (H - 23-5, R - 20-8, N - 5-0)
PL - 45-13 (H - 22-5, R - 20-8, N - 3-0)
PLT - 2-0 (H - 1-0, R - 0-0, N - 1-0)

Up Next
•    Navy takes to the road for the next two weekends of league play.  That fortnight away from Annapolis begins with local matches Friday, Sept. 26 at American and Saturday, Sept. 27 at Loyola.

First Set Key
•    Navy has posted a 49-6 match record when it wins the first set and a 9-52 record when it loses the opening frame since the start of the 2021 season.
•    The Mids have tallied a 3-2 record this year when they win the first set and a 1-3 record when they lose the first set.

Defense Wins
•    Navy has compiled a 41-14 record when it snares more digs than its opponents since the start of the 2021 season.  The Mids have tallied a 14-39 record when being outdug and a 3-4 record when they tie their foes in digs in this span.
•    Navy has posted a 4-1 record this year when it grabs more digs, a 0-3 record when it loses the digs statistical and a 0-1 record when it totals more digs.
 
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.
•    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 40 five-set matches under Paco Labrador (2018-25), including two already this season.

Paco Wins No. 100 at Navy
•    Navy's Aug. 30 victory over Montana was the 100th in the Navy coaching career of Paco Labrador.  
•    Now in his eighth season on The Yard (which included a five-match season in the spring of 2021), he had compiled a 100-76 record through the match against the Grizzlies.

39-37!
•    Navy's Aug. 29 match at Utah Valley featured a fourth set with the final score of 39-37.
•    The Mids served for the match 10 times and the Wolverines served for the set five times before the Mids finally won the frame.
•    It was by far Navy's highest scoring set since the sport went to a 25-point scoring system in 2008, is the highest scoring set played by a Patriot League team, is the highest scoring set in the NCAA this season  and wasn't too far off the NCAA record of 46-44.

Navy's Highest Scoring Sets (Since 2008)
39-37    at Utah Valley, Aug. 29, 2025 (4th set) / Navy won
34-32    at American, Oct. 7, 2010 (2nd) / AU won
34-32    at Army, Oct. 14, 2017 (4th) / Army won
34-32    at Holy Cross, Sept. 28, 2019 (1st) / Navy won

More Close Sets
•    Navy has already played seven sets this season 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 already played 12 sets decided by two points this year after it played 23 during the 2024 campaign.

Navy in Wes B.
•    The Wesley A. Brown Field House has served as the primary home for the Navy volleyball team since the start of the 2008 season.
•    The Mids have compiled a 93-84 record in the facility, which includes a 44-29 record under head coach Paco Labrador.  
•    Additionally, Navy has registered a 73-48 record in Patriot League regular season matches played in the facility.  The Mids have posted a 34-15 league regular season record under Labrador in the building.
•    The late Lt. Cmdr. Wesley A. Brown ('49) was the first African-American graduate of the USNA.

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 three double-doubles this season and six in their careers.

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.

Freshmen to Lead Navy in Kills and Kills Per Set (Since 1991)
1992 - Jennifer Meininger
1996 - Rachel Shropa
2001 - Ashley Van Hartesvelt
2010 - Erin Fortner
2024 - Farrah Eike

Academic Majors
•    Students at the USNA select their academic major prior to the start of their sophomore year.
•    Academic majors on the 2025 team are as follows:

Data Science
-- Lainey Feighery
English
-- Isa Boyd, Amara Chambers, Ava Toppin
Foreign Area Studies
-- Paige Buzzerio (Asia), Emerson Lionberger (Asia)
Operations Research
-- Farrah Eike, Arleigh Hanson
Political Science
-- Ally Alessio, Grace Burgoyne, Anuhea Hauanio-Lore,
Julia Humphrey