ANNAPOLIS, Md. -- Slow starts to the first and second sets dug a hole for the Navy volleyball team (1-5) it could not climb out of in an eventual three-set loss (25-16, 25-20, 25-22) to Stony Brook (4-3), Sunday afternoon at the Wesley A. Brown Field House in Annapolis.
"Passing and serving are the building blocks of competing at this level," said Navy head coach
Paco Labrador, "and we fell short of our standards today. We kept the match respectable in sets two and three by staying in the fight. We're still learning how to play cohesive volleyball and we will get another chance to improve next weekend."
Set One
The score was tied at 2-2 when the Seawolves ran off the next nine points to take an 11-2 lead. The Mids made it a four-point margin on a pair of occasions, but could not draw any closer.
Set Two
Stony Brook built 3-0 and 9-2 leads at the start of the frame. The Mids again winnowed the deficit down to as few as four points three different times, but the Seawolves answered each run on their way to taking a 2-0 lead.
Set Three
The Mids again found themselves trailing 3-0, but this time they were able to rebound and take a 7-5 lead. The lead changed hands on several occasions, then Stony Book took a 14-10 lead. Navy responded by scoring the ensuing seven points to take a 17-14 advantage. That was followed by a 4-0 Stony Brook run (18017) as it soon built a 20-18 lead.
Farrah Eike posted back-to-back kills for Navy to tie the set at 20-20. Three-straight sideouts gave Stony Brook a 22-21 lead, then the Seawolves posted a kill to double their lead out to 23-21. That was followed by a Navy timeout.
The Mids fed Eike again and her kill cut the margin in half to 23-22. The teams battled through a lengthy ensuing point, which ended when the Mids were correctly called for an inadvertent blocking error while they were moving away from the net. That took the Seawolves to set and match point, which they converted when their next serve hit the tape and fell to the ground in front of pair of diving Mids.
Statistical Summary
Stony Brook registered 42 kills and a .230 hitting percentage and held Navy to 24 kills and a .075 hitting effort. Those were the only two significant differences across the final box score.
Eike, who was named to the weekend's all-tournament team, led Navy with nine kills while
Caroline Buffum added six,
Isa Boyd notched a double-double of 13 assists and 11 digs and both
Siena Morgan and
Ellen Gundlach tallied five blocks.
Up Next
Navy travels to Norfolk, Va., for matches Friday against Old Dominion and Saturday against UMES.
Kristen Dickmann Invitational Results
Stony Brook def. Penn, 3-2 (21-25, 15-25, 25-18, 26-24, 16-14)
Navy def. Coppin State, 3-1 (25-22, 21-25, 25-22, 25-23)
Penn def. Coppin State, 3-2 (23-25, 25-23, 25-17, 27-29, 16-14)
Penn def. Navy, 3-1 (25-21, 23-25, 29-27, 25-21)
Stony Brook def. Coppin State, 3-2 (26-24, 26-28, 18-25, 25-19, 15-12)
Stony Brook def. Navy, 3-0 (25-16, 25-20. 25-22)
All-Tournament Team
Ella Sanders, Stony Brook (MVP)
Damisi Osibodu, Stony Brook
Ayanna Pierre Louis, Stony Brook
Jenna Garner, Penn
Adell Murray, Penn
Farrah Eike, Navy
Coco Figueroa, Coppin State
