Americans makes clean sweep of Navy in Patriot League – Volleyball News
After experiencing success in the last six matches, the American Volleyball team was eager to carry the momentum forward and further extend their winning streak. They took on Navy in a Patriot League match on Thursday, October 6 at the Wesley A. Brown Field
House in Annapolis, Maryland and added another win to their tally. The American’s continued with success and demonstrated a stellar performance against Navy. They finished the match in straight sets by posting 25-15, 25-21, and 25-19. The squad improved the
winning record of the Eagles to 12-9 for the season and 5-0 in conference play. On the other hand, Navy fell to 6-14 overall, with a 1-4 conference record.
Key contributors
The pair of Juliana Crum and Rebecca Heath played an instrumental role in the American’s victory. They actively participated in attack and did not miss any chance to score points for their team. They notched up 11 points apiece for Americans. Crum hit with
a percentage of .455, while Heath recorded a .476 in the match. Other influential players, Megan Rosburg and Alexandra Hammer, did well on the defence. Rosburg clipped a match-high 12 digs and Hammer added 21 assists. Overall Americans posted 41 kills in response
to Navy’s 29 kills. They also proved to be better at defence and held the advantage of 29-22 over their opponent.
Match overview
Eagles set the tone early in the match with the help of powerful serves and quick passes over the net. With the right combination of players, they were able to take the lead over Navy. However, the Navy side put together a sizeable run in response and remained
hand-in-hand with Eagles up to 15-14. As the first set reached a second technical timeout, American incorporated the heavy strike of volleys. They pushed their lead from 15-14 to 21-14 and finally finished the opening frame with 25-15.
In the following set, the Eagles went on a 7-3 run to build a 21-15 cushion and put Navy under pressure. Navy tried to come out of the blues but Americans crushed their chances of return by closing the second set at 25-21.
With the first two sets in hand, the Americans easily managed to dismiss Navy in the third set by 25-19 and claimed match victory.
Post-match
The mentor of the Navy team, Larry Bock, did not like the sight of losing but had to accept defeat as he stated: "American is a good team. We realistically can't make as many unforced errors as we did tonight against a team of their calibre. This is not
a game of perfect and when things don't go exactly right, we as coaches have to realize we are coaching players who are used to perfection and we have to deal with imperfect scenarios. But there were enough good things tonight to keep us going, such as our
blocking."
Next up
Navy will take the road to Bethlehem, Pennsylvania, in order take on Lehigh and Lafayette Leopards on 14th and 15th of October. American team will also play two matches against the same competitors next Friday and Saturday.
Tags: