Navy Women’s Volleyball Stay Atop Patriot League
In a battle for first pl
ace in the 2017 Women’s Patriot League Volleyball standings on the line, Navy spread out the kills and kept the errors to a minimum, as they defeated Lehigh (25-19; 23-25; 25-14; 25-18) to stay in first place.
The Midshipmen (17-3; 7-0 Patriot Leauge) used a total of 49 kills (15 from Maggie Phillips; 11 from Tara Dotzauer and 10 from Maddi Sgattoni – who also had six service aces in the match) and only committed 16 errors in the match to post their eighth consecutive win.
Ana Spangenberg had nine kills and Julia Pressly had eight in the loss for the Lady Mountain Hawks (14-7; 5-2 Patriot League).
Using runs of 4-0 and 5-0 in the first set, Navy jumped out to a quick 12-5 lead, which they would never surrender and won the set 25-19 on a kill by Dotzauer (with a set from Patricia Mattingly).
Looking to repeat the success of the first set, Navy streaked out to a 7-2 lead and looked like they were going to take the set, holding on to a 18-15 lead before Lehigh would go on it’s own 6-0 streak to take the lead 21-18. Navy would answer back, scoring three points in a row to tie it at 21-21, before Lehigh would eventually pull away and take the set 25-23 on a kill by Lauren Bright (with a set from Bonaire Berry).
Navy clamped down on it’s play and started the third set strong again, jumping out to a 7-1 and never trailed, though Lehigh did get as close as 20-14 before Navy would go on a 5-0 run, with the last four points being served by Sgattoni, who finished the set on a service ace and Navy claimed the set, 25-14, to take a two sets to one lead.
Lehigh reversed the script in the fourth set. The Lady Mountain Hawks jumped out to a quick 6-2 lead of their own and at one point was up 13-8. That’s when the Midshipmen took over and used runs of 7-0 and 6-0. Navy would eventually win the set 25-19 and the match when Ally Spencer hit a service ace.
Navy next takes on Army (11-8; 4-2) in West Point, NY on Saturday (7:00 PM).
