Match Stats
- Navy def. Air Force 3-1 (18-25, 25-23, 25-13, 28-26)
- Navy moves to 4-0, Air Force falls to 2-2
- Annapolis, Maryland
- Attendance: 301
- Match Stats
On the front-end of an east coast roadtrip that will see them play at the Pentagon against Army on Friday, Air Force dropped a 3-1 decision to undefeated Navy on Wednesday in Annapolis. The 4-0 start for Navy is their best since opening 5-0 in 2008. Air Force still leads the all-time series 12-2, though they had a 4 match winning streak coming into Wednesday.
Katie Patrick put a punctuation on the night with back-to-back solo blocks for the last two points of the evening for the Mids. That finished off a 17.5 point night for her that included 3 solo blocks, 5 block assists, 12 kills, and a team-high .579 hitting percentage (among players with more than 2 swings).
“I think Katie put this team on her shoulders in a big way,” said Navy head coach Larry Bock. “It was really important that we had somebody who just said `I own this match, I want this match, I’m going to compete like crazy.’ Katie did just that for us tonight.”
“I think we came into this season ready to play,” said Patrick. “I think we were all very ready to have our effort finally pay off. Getting together before the season began and working hard in practice every day have definitely helped. Even tonight, with not everyone playing at the top of their game, we still were able to grind out a win. I think that shows the effort is paying off.”
As a team, Navy hit .371 with 14 blocks, while Air Force hit just .169 with only 4 blocks.
While most of the Falcons struggled offensively, Denise Sszoi managed to come away with a match-high 23 kills. That’s the first time in her career with over 20 kills. She and junior Abigail Miksch combined for 34 of the team’s 54 kills on the evening.
Air Force was playing without junior outside hitter and last year’s MVP Elizabeth Pennington, who led the team with 3.18 kills/set through their first 3 games. No explanation for Pennington’s absence was given.
Sszoi has been the Falcons’ primary offensive weapon all season. She had 114 attacks through the first 3 games (38/game), but had 31 errors to match with her 31 kills. When her swings ballooned to 57 on Wednesday, she counterintuitively got cleaner, with just 8 errors to go with those 23 kills.
On the flip side, Navy had a more well-rounded offensive attack, with 4 players scoring double digit kills. Maddi Sgattoni had an all-around day, scoring 11 kills, 9 digs, 2 total blocks, and an ace for the Mids. She was joined in double figures by Patrick, Dorothy Murray (10), and Maggie Phillips (11).
Navy now plays its next nine matches over a span of three weekends on the road. The initial trio of those matches will be this weekend in Muncie, Ind., where the Mids will take part in the Ball State Tournament. Navy will face the tournament-host Cardinals Friday at 10 a.m., Fort Wayne Friday at 5 p.m. and Bradley Saturday at 3 p.m.
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Press Releases:
Courtesy Navy Sports:
ANNAPOLIS, Md. – The Air Force volleyball team suffered a 3-1 loss to service academy rival Navy on Wednesday, Aug. 30, at Alumni Hall in Annapolis. The 18-25, 25-23, 13-25, 26-28 contest loss snapped the Falcons’ four-match win streak over the Mids and moved Air Force to 12-2 in the all-time series.
Denise Ssozi recorded the first 20-kill match of her career, as she collected a match-best 23 kills. The sophomore, who hit .263 in the match (23-8-57), combined with junior Abigail Miksch (11) for 35 of the team’s 54 kills. Freshman Kathleen Medill led the Falcons with three blocks (one solo, two assisted), while juniors Sarah Hellman and Shanleigh Conlan posted team-leading marks in digs (14) and assists (47). Conlan, freshman Jordan Daniels and senior Piper Heineck rounded out the Falcons’ stat leaders, as they each registered a service ace.
The match opened with back-and-forth action, before Miksch and Ssozi put down kills that gave the Falcons a 10-8 advantage. The Mids tallied five of the next six points, before Ssozi (two) and junior Lauren Heldt (one) helped Air Force go on a 5-1 run that ended with a two-point advantage (17-15). Miksch registered another kill, but Navy scored 10 of the final 11 points for the 25-18 victory.
Heldt scored the opening point of the second set, while four kills from Ssozi, one from freshman Brynn Sulte and a service ace from Daniels helped Air Force roll double up Navy by an 8-4 margin. The Mids evened the set at 10, before Sulte (kill) and Conlan (ace) helped Air Force retake the lead by a 15-11 margin. After the Mids tied the set at 17, Heineck and Ssozi put down back-to-back scores to take the two-point lead (19-17). The teams traded the next six points, before Ssozi (two), Sulte (one) and Miksch (one) put down kills that secured the Falcons a 25-23 victory.
Navy took a fast 5-1 lead in the third set and extended their advantage to 16-7. A pair of Navy errors and kills from Ssozi and Sulte put Air Force in double figures, but the Mids took the set by a 25-13 margin.
Miksch opened the fourth set with a kill and assisted block, while a solo block from Medill gave Air Force a 5-0 lead to start the fourth set. Navy scored the next three, but scores from Miksch (8-3), Heldt (9-4), Heineck (10-5) and Ssozi (11-6) helped Air Force maintain its five-point lead. The Mids pulled within one (13-12), before Heldt stopped their run with a pair of kills. Navy evened the set at 17 and took the lead on the ensuing play (17-18), before the Falcons retook the lead (19-18) following a kill from Ssozi and another block from Medill and Miksch. After evening the score at 20, the Mids took four of the next six points to reach match-point. Kills from Ssozi evened the score at 24 and again at 25, while Heineck and Conlan teamed up for a block that gave Air Force the 26-25 advantage. Navy was able to claim the final three points to win the 28-26 set and secure the match.
The Falcons continue on the East Coast later this week, when they face Army West Point, Columbia and The Citadel at the Service Academy Challenge on Sept. 1-2.
Courtesy Air Force Athletics:
ANNAPOLIS, Md. —- Katie Patrick (Jr., Aurora, Colo.) capped a great all-around night with solo blocks on the last two points of the match to help the Navy volleyball team (4-0) record a four-set victory over Air Force Wednesday evening at Alumni Hall in Annapolis. The Mids defeated the Falcons by set scores of 25-18, 23-25, 25-13 and 28-26.
Navy’s 4-0 record to the year is the second-best start by the Mids over the last 13 seasons. The lone time a Navy team bettered that in this span was in 2008 when that team began the year with a 5-0 record.
“I think Katie put this team on her shoulders in a big way,” said Navy head coach Larry Bock. “It was really important that we had somebody who just said `I own this match, I want this match, I’m going to compete like crazy.’ Katie did just that for us tonight.”
“I think we came into this season ready to play,” said Patrick. “I think we were all very ready to have our effort finally pay off. Getting together before the season began and working hard in practice every day have definitely helped. Even tonight, with not everyone playing at the top of their game, we still were able to grind out a win. I think that shows the effort is paying off.”
Air Force held a 17-15 lead over Navy in the first set, but a service error by the Falcons sliced the lead in half and gave the Mids the serve. A pair of kills by Maggie Phillips (Sr., Leesburg, Va.) sandwiched around an Air Force hitting error made the score 19-17 in favor of Navy and led to a timeout being called by the Falcons. Air Force notched a kill on the next point (19-18), but Patrick ended the ensuing point with a kill to give a two-point lead (20-18) and the serve back to Navy. Patrick dropped back to the service line and she never left as the Mids were able to run the table on a kill from Dorothy Murray (Sr., Harbor City, Calif.), a block by the tandem of Phillips and Sarena Seelbach (So., Chapel Hill, N.C.), consecutive kills by Murray and Phillips and an Air Force hitting error.
The Falcons jumped out to a 6-2 lead at the start of the second set, but Navy tied the score at 9-9. That would be the first of eight more ties, with the last one coming at 22-22. Air Force’s Abigail Miksch posted a kill to break the tie, then teammate Denise Ssozi recorded a kill to take the Falcons to set point with a 24-22 lead. A Seelbach kill erased one set point opportunity, but another Ssozi kill ended the second frame.
Navy rattled off each of the first four and nine of the first 12 points of the third set and never looked back in winning the frame. The Mids hit a blistering .667 (14 kills, 0 attack errors, 21 swings) and limited the Falcons to a mark of .069 (9 kills, 7 errors, 29 swings) during the stanza.
Air Force responded by scoring the initial five points of the fourth set, which led to an early timeout being called by Bock. The margin would still be five points at 10-5, but Navy slowly chipped away at it and eventually went on a 3-0 run to take an 18-17 lead.
“One thing we have been building is our toughness,” said Patrick. “Regardless of what is going on around us, we want to make sure we are keeping that internal level of play and mental stability. I’ve seen that in both matches and practices. You can feel it in the gym.”
The score would be tied at 19-19, 20-20 and 21-21 when a kill by Phillips gave the Mids a 22-21 lead. She and Seelbach promptly teamed up for another block to make the score 23-21. After a passing error by the Mids cut the lead in half, the Falcons committed an attack error to take Navy to match point with a 24-22 lead.
That opportunity was erased by a Navy hitting error, then the second try for the Mids to win the match was saved by Air Force with a Ssozi kill. Navy regained the lead at 25-24 on a Seelbach kill only to see Ssozi tie the frame with a kill of her own. Air Force reached set point (26-25) on a block by the duo of Piper Heineck and Shanleigh Conlan, but a kill by setter Patricia Mattingly (Jr., New Albany, Ind.) tied the frame for the ninth time at 26-26. Patrick then blocked Abigail Miksch to give Navy a 27-26 lead, and followed with a block of Heineck to close out the match.
“That’s always fun,” said Patrick on ending the match with consecutive blocks. “But I wouldn’t have been able to do it without my pin blockers being ready.”
“I’m going to have to go back and watch the film to see what happened in the end game,” said Bock in discussing the fourth-set rallies, “but I know (assistant coach) Megan Shifflett made a couple of defensive adjustments with our middle-back player where we got some digs toward the end. They just played a real mature set and kind of worked their way back into the set one point at a time. Probably another sign of a mature team that we were able to win at crunch time.”
Navy’s offense totaled 62 kills and a .371 attack percentage —- the second-best hitting night by the Mids in a four-set match in school history —- while its defense limited Air Force to tallies of 54 kills and a .169 hitting percentage. Navy’s defense finished with 50 digs (to 45 for Air Force) and 14.0 blocks (to 4.0 by the Falcons).
Patrick tied a career high with 12 kills and committed just one attack error on 19 attempts for a .579 attack percentage, while adding a career-best eight blocks (three solo). The eight blocks places her in a tie for fifth place in Navy history for the most by a Mid in a four-set match.
Patrick was one of four Navy hitters to reach double figures in kills. Phillips and Maddi Sgattoni (Fr., Pittsburgh, Pa.) each posted 11 kills and Murray finished with 10 kills (and a .364 hitting percentage. Mattingly accounted for 29 assists and fellow setter Paige Miles (So., Oklahoma City, Okla.) dished out 22 assists.
Defensively for the Mids, Shearn snared a team-high 11 digs, Sgattoni and Olivia Kluger (Sr., Carmel, Ind.) each had nine digs, Seelbach totaled five blocks and Tara Dotzauer (Sr., Raleigh, N.C.) had three blocks to go with her nine kills and .471 attack percentage.
“This match and our match Saturday against Maryland Eastern Shore (a five-set win by the Mids) were critical matches,” said Bock. “We had people come up big in both of them and are really pleased to be 4-0, but we still have a long way to go.”
Also having a great night was Ssozi, who totaled 23 of Air Force’s 54 kills.
Navy now plays its next nine matches over a span of three weekends on the road. The initial trio of those matches will be this weekend in Muncie, Ind., where the Mids will take part in the Ball State Tournament. Navy will face the tournament-host Cardinals Friday at 10 a.m., Fort Wayne Friday at 5 p.m. and Bradley Saturday at 3 p.m.
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