ANNAPOLIS, Md. -- Middle blockers Ava Toppin and Julia Humphrey combined for 23 kills, a .513 attack percentage and 10 blocks during a four-set victory by the Navy volleyball team over Holy Cross, Saturday afternoon at the Wesley A. Brown Field House in Annapolis.  The Mids (5-6, 1-1 Patriot League) battled their way past the Crusaders (4-9, 0-2), 25-22, 25-20, 23-25, 25-19).

"It is never easy to bounce back after an emotionally draining match like we had Friday," said Navy head coach Paco Labrador. "I thought we did a great job of coming into today with focus, intentionality and energy."

Set One
Navy took leads of 7-3, 10-4, 15-7 and 19-10 in seeming placing itself in control.  The cushion soon grew to 22-14 and then 24-17, which took the Mids to set point.  A Holy Cross kill, block, kill, ace and block made the score 24-22.  Toppin finally ended the frame with a kill on Navy's sixth set point.

Set Two
Navy tied to separate from Holy Cross several times, but never managed to do so until toward the late stages of the frame.  The score was tied at 15-15 when a Holy Cross service error gave the serve to the Mids with a 16-15 lead.  A blocking error by the Crusaders and an ace by Arleigh Hanson stretched the lead to 18-15.  The margin reached five points at 21-16, but quickly dwindled to two points at 21-19.  Another service error by the Crusaders was followed by an ace from Anuhea Hauanio-Lore to make the score 23-19.  Toppin posted a kill to give Navy a 24-19 lead.  A blocking error by the Mids extended play, then Toppin tallied another kill to give them a 2-0 advantage.

Set Three
Navy again had a productive start to set, but couldn't put away Holy Cross. The Mids jumped out to a 7-2 lead only to see the Crusaders close to within one point at 12-11.  A 3-0 Navy run (15-11) was followed by a 5-0 spurt by Holy Cross that gave the visitors a 16-15 lead.

Navy regrouped with a 4-0 run of its own to build a 19-16 cushion, but the Crusaders scored the next six points to take a 22-19 lead.  Holy Cross reached set point at 24-21, but a kill followed by a block cut the deficit down to 24-23.  A Navy service error sent the match to a fourth set.

Set Four
It was another strong beginning to the set as Navy rattled off five of the first six points of the stanza.   The Mids would extend their leads to 9-4, 13-6 and 17-10.  Holy Cross made yet another surge and closed to within three points at 20-17.  A service error by the Crusaders gave the Mids a 21-17 lead.  Humphrey notched a kill and then teamed with Caroline Buffum for a block to make the score 23-17.  Humphrey accounted for a third point in a row with a kill as her offering allowed Navy to reach match point.  The Crusaders staved off one point with a kill, but Buffum tallied a kill on the ensuing play to end the 127 minute match.

Statistical Summary
The service line proved to be the difference in the match.  Navy accounted for 17 aces and six errors while Holy Cross recorded eight aces and seven errors.  Additional statistics of note were the Mids posted 58 kills and a .272 attack percentage to slightly better the 51 kills and .276 hitting effort by the Crusaders.

"Our servers really carried us," said Labrador.  "There were contributions from everyone and that's a huge step forward for us."

Toppin had an errorless hitting night of 12 kill on 20 swings for a .600 percentage.  She also added four aces and four blocks to her stats line.  Humphrey finished with 13 kill and three errors on 19 attempts for a .421 percentage to go along with six blocks.

Joining that duo in double figures was Grace Burgoyne with a career high 11 kills to nearly double her previous career best of six and a .529 hitting night.  

Navy's three setters all recorded double-digit assists as Isa Boyd posted 21 helpers, Hanson had 15 and Lainey Feighery dished out 14 assists.

"Isa, Lainey and Arleigh were all involved in running the offense," said Labrador.  "They did a great job of finding Ava and Julia in the middle and putting up hittable balls on tough passes.

"Grace was our game changer.  She's been working every day to build variety into her offense and today it was on full display."

Amara Chambers matched Toppin's four ace night while Hanson, Boyd, Hauanio-Lore and Ally Alessio each had two aces.

Chambers also snared 13 digs to finish second on the team behind the 18 snared by Hauanio-Lore

Up Next
Navy takes to the road but stays local next week as the Mids will play Friday at American and Saturday at Loyola.