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9/14/2002 - Women's Volleyball
Navy Wins Pair of Volleyball Matches

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The navy volleyball team bounced back from a difficult Friday by winning a pair of matches Saturday on the final day of the Columbia Classic in new York City. The Midshipmen (6-6), defeated Rider in four games, 23-30, 30-13, 30-17, 30-17), then ended the weekend with a three-game sweep of Wagner, 30-20, 30-17, 30-18.

In the opener against the Broncs (2-8), Navy fell behind early and couldn't catch up to Rider. The Broncs quickly scored eight of the first nine points of the game and Navy could climb no closer than three points at 15-12.

Navy's serve began to dominate in game two, with Jessica Van Norman (Sr., Oakland, Calif.) extending a 13-10 Navy lead to 17-10 then, after the teams traded sideouts, Ashley Van Hartesvelt (sr., Breckenridge, Colo.) served a myriad of aces and tough serves in turning a 18-11 lead into a 28-11 advantage.

Games three and four were similat to game two a combination of Navy's serving and shot placement began to take over. The Mids totaled 14 aces in the match and finished with a .298 hitting percentage, including a mark of .350 in the final three games.

Individually, Van Hartesvelt finished with five aces and 11 kills, with Erica McElroy (Sr., Henderson, Nev.) totaling 11 kills and 17 digs. The Mids were led offensively by 14 kills from Kristin Davidson (Sr., Lexington Park, Md.)

Navy's serve again played a role in its sweep of Wagner (0-13). Three different Mids served three-straight points for Navy in its game one victory, helped along by middle blockers Davidson's six kills on eight attempts and Amanda McHenry's (So., Cary, N.C.) five kills on seven attempts.

Davidson had another long stretch of service points in game two, turning a slim 8-5 Navy lead into a large 20-6 advantage. Navy finished the match with 21 service aces, its second match of the season with at least 20 aces. Van Norman would lead the team with eight aces.

Offensively for Navy, 14 of the 15 players finished the match with at least one kill. Davidson led the way with nine kills, two more than both Jamie Leveretz (Sr., Los Alamitos, Calif.) and Katey Geary (So., San Jose, Calif.).

"I was pleased with how we played today," said Navy head coach Mike Schwob. "We started slow in game one against Rider, but were quickly able to refocus and ran points in each of the next six games."

Navy will return to Macdonough Hall Friday night as the Midshipmen play host to Howard in their final tuneup prior to the start of the Patriot League season.