Match Information
Air Force (3-0) at Navy (2-1)
Friday, Sept. 5 • 6 p.m. • Wesley A. Brown Field House • Annapolis, Md.
Series - Air Force leads, 12-4 • Last Match - Navy, 3-0 (Aug. 30, 2019 / Arlington, Va.)
Live Video - ESPN+

George Mason (2-1) at Navy (2-1)
Saturday, Sept. 6 • 6 p.m. • Wesley A. Brown Field House • Annapolis, Md.
* George Mason will play Wake Forest (Friday) prior to playing Navy
Series - George Mason leads, 9-5 • Last Match - George Mason, 3-1 (Sept. 13, 2024 / Fairfax, Va.)
Live Video - ESPN+

Wake Forest (0-2) at Navy (2-1)
Sunday, Sept. 7 • 3 p.m. • Wesley A. Brown Field House • Annapolis, Md.
* Wake Forest will play George Mason (Friday) and Air Force (Saturday) prior to playing Navy
Series - Tied, 1-1 • Last Match - Wake Forest, 3-0 (Sept. 1, 2024 / Winston-Salem, N.C.)
Live Video - ESPN+

This Week
•    The Navy volleyball team will open its home season this weekend by playing host to the 14th edition of the Kristen Dickmann Invitational.
•    The Mids will play Air Force, George Mason and Wake Forest during the three-day event in the Wesley A. Brown Field House.
•    Each of Navy's matches will be streamed on ESPN+.  Live statistics from all six matches can be found at 
NavySports.com.

Kristen Dickmann Invitational Schedule
•    The Kristen Dickmann Invitational features round-robin play between the three teams.  Following is the complete schedule:

Friday, Sept. 5
3 p.m. - Wake Forest vs. George Mason
6 p.m. - Air Force vs. Navy
Saturday, Sept. 6
3 p.m. - Air Force vs. Wake Forest
6 p.m. - George Mason vs. Navy
Sunday, Sept. 7
Noon - George Mason vs. Air Force
3 p.m. - Wake Forest vs. Navy

Kristen Dickmann
•     Navy's annual fall tournament was renamed in honor of Kristen Dickmann in 2010.
•    The event pays tribute to the former Navy volleyball player who unexpectedly passed away in her dorm room in Bancroft Hall in May 2008, three weeks after turning 19.
•    This year marks the 14th playing of the event.
*    Among the losses for the Mids in the event have been defeats to Maryland (2015), Texas Tech (2015), Alabama (2018), West Virginia (2021), Michigan (2021) and Michigan State (2022).
•    Additionally, Navy registered a 3-0 victory over Maryland on the final day of the 2023 tournament.

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 (2-9:30 p.m.) and Sunday (11 a.m.-6:30 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.  
•    On Saturday (2-9:30 p.m.), the shuttle bus will depart from and return to the Navy Health Clinic (695 Kinkaid Rd., Annapolis, MD, 21402).  There is no charge to park at the health clinic.
•    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.

Program History
•    The 2025 campaign is Navy's 49th as a varsity program.  
•    The Mids played the 1976 season –– the first year women were admitted to the USNA –– as a junior varsity team.  
•    Navy then competed on the AIAW / NCAA Division II level from 1977-90.  The Mids compiled a 377-211-6 record in those 14 seasons and advanced to the NCAA Tournament in 1987 and '88.
•    Navy was elevated to the Division I level with the 1991 season, which coincided with it joining the Patriot League.

Last Week
•    The Mids began the 2025 season by posting a 2-1 record at the Utah Valley Invitational.
•    Navy first fell in five sets to Boise State, 25-27, 25-21, 24-26, 25-12, 15-12.
•    The Mids then defeated 2025 WAC-favorite and weekend-host Utah Valley in four sets, 15-25, 28-26, 25-16, 39-27.
•    The weekend ended with Navy defeating Montana in four sets, 25-19, 25-23, 19-25, 25-18.
 
Navy vs. Air Force
•    Air Force holds a 12-4 advantage in the all-time series with Navy.  The Falcons lead the Mids, 9-4, in matches played since Navy became a Division I program in 1991.
•    Air Force also leads Navy, 8-1, in matches played on The Yard.
•    The Mids have won the last three matches in the series, with those being a 3-1 win in 2017 (Annapolis), a 3-2 victory in 2018 (Colorado Springs) and a 3-0 decision in 2019 (Arlington, Va).
•    Navy has posted a 5-13 record against current Mountain West Conference teams (4-12 vs. Air Force; 0-1 vs. Boise State; 1-0 vs. San Diego State).  
•    Air Force posted an overall record of 3-26 last season and placed 12th in the Mountain West Conference with a record of 2-16.
•    The Falcons placed 12th in the 12-team 2025 Mountain West Preseason Poll.
•    Air Force began the 2025 season by winning three matches at its own tournament.  The Falcons defeated Jacksonville State (4 sets), Portland State (4 sets) and Seattle (3 sets) to already match their victory total for all of last season.

Navy vs. George Mason
•    George Mason leads Navy, 9-5, in the all-time series between the teams that dates back to 1977.  The Patriots also hold a 4-3 edge in matches played since Navy joined the Division I ranks.
•    The teams have split the four previous matches played on The Yard, with the 2018 match won by the Mids being the only one to be played in Annapolis since 1983.
•    The Patriots won a four-set match last season in Fairfax to halt a three-match winning streak in the series by Navy.
•    Navy has posted a 26-35 record against current Atlantic 10 Conference teams, which includes a 10-18 mark as a Division I program.
•    George Mason finished the 2024 season with an overall record of 11-19 and tied for sixth place in the Atlantic 10 Conference with a 6-12 record.
•    The Patriots placed third in the 12-team 2025 Atlantic 10 Conference Poll.
•    George Mason head coach Megan Shifflett Bachman was an assistant coach at Navy during the 2017 season.  The Mids advanced to the Patriot League Tournament final that season as head coach Larry Bock was named the league coach of the year in his final campaign.
•    George Mason makes the short drive to Annapolis with a 2-1 record this year.  The Patriots dropped a five-set match to American and won four-set decisions over Howard and Georgetown on the opening weekend of the season.

Navy vs. Wake Forest
•    Navy and Wake Forest have met on just two prior occasions.  The Mids posted a 2-1 victory in 1978 in a match played at Maryland, then the Demon Deacons registered a 3-0 victory last season in Winston-Salem.
•    Navy has tallied a 6-18 record against teams currently in the Atlantic Coast Conference, which includes a 2-9 record during Navy's Division I era.
•    Among current ACC teams, only Louisville (1979, Navy win) and Virginia (1998, Virginia win) have played the Mids in Annapolis.
•    Navy has recently played ACC members Notre Dame (2022, Navy win), Syracuse (2023, Syracuse win) and Wake Forest (2024, Wake Forest win).
•    Wake Forest posted an overall record of 13-18 and tied for 14th place in the ACC with a record of 5-15.
•    The Demon Deacons placed 15th in the 18-team 2025 ACC Preseason Poll.
•    Wake Forest dropped a pair of four-set matches in Cincinnati last weekend to the host Bearcats and Michigan.

Up Next
•    Navy returns to the Wesley A. Brown Field House Sept. 12-13 when it welcomes Gardner-Webb, Hampton and Le Moyne for the Navy Invitational.
•    The Mids then open Patriot League play at home Sept. 19 against Army in the Star Match and Sept. 20 against Holy Cross.

First Set Key
•    Navy has posted a 47-5 match record when it wins the first set and a 9-49 record when it loses the opening frame since the start of the 2021 season.

Defense Wins
•    Navy has compiled a 39-13 record when it snares more digs than its opponents since the start of the 2021 season.  The Mids have tallied a 14-37 record when being outdug and a 3-3 record when they tie their foes in digs in this span.
 
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.
•    During the rally scoring era (since 2001), Navy also played 20 five-set matches over the 2005-07 and 2017-19 seasons.
•    The Mids have played 39 five-set matches under Paco Labrador (2018-24), including one 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 and wasn't too far off the NCAA record of 46-44.

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 91-80 record in the facility, which includes a 42-25 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.
•    Her 13 career assist / dig double-doubles ranks eighth in school history.

Farrah as 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.