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Oct. 12, 2005

ANNAPOLIS, Md. - The Navy volleyball team will place its five-match winning streak on the line Friday night when the Midshipmen play at American in a 7 p.m. match in our nation's capital.

Navy's last loss was a four-game setback to the Eagles September 27 in Macdonough Hall. Both teams hit very well on the night, with Navy recording a .319 attack percentage and American finishing the match with a .315 mark. American totaled 10.5 blocks, 10 service aces and seven service errors, while Navy tallied 6.5 blocks, four aces and 12 service errors. Individually, both teams saw a trio of players knock down double-digit kills, with American's Cutrina Biddulph leading all players with 16 and Rachel Dougherty (So., Derwood, Md.) pacing the Mids with 14.

Since that loss Navy reeled off five wins in a span of nine days, the most consecutive victories by the program in three years, to improve its record on the season to 13-5. Included during its streak are league victories over Lafayette (3-2), Lehigh (3-0), Army (3-1) and Holy Cross (3-2), as well as a four-game triumph over Hampton.

"I thought we played well in our first match against American," said Navy head coach Mike Schwob. "But since then we have cleaned up our game even more. We will have to continue playing at a high level Friday and over the remainder of the league season. We have already accomplished some of the goals we set for ourselves at the start of the year, but there are still many more out there for us to reach for."

Ashley Musser (Sr., Industry, Pa.) recorded a pair of triple-doubles during Navy's wins over Army and Holy Cross last weekend, tallying 13 kills, 23 assists and 10 digs in Navy's Star match victory over Army, followed by a career-high 24 kills, 30 assists and 11 digs to help Navy rally from an 0-2 deficit and defeat Holy Cross in five games. She recently set the Navy record for career service aces and enters the week ranked fourth in Patriot League history with 199. In addition, she surpassed 2,000 assists for her career last week.

Musser, who plays three rotations as a setter and three as an outside hitter, ranks eighth in the league with 0.55 service aces per game, eighth with 6.03 assists per game and ninth with 3.17 kills per game during the Patriot League season. Other Mids who rank among the league leaders are Beth McArthur (Jr., Roseville, Minn.) -- first with 1.14 blocks per game, third with a .354 hitting percentage and seventh with 3.25 kills per game -- and Jessie Sims (Fr., Etowah, N.C.) who ranks 12th with 3.03 digs per game.

Navy as a team ranks among the top-three teams in the Patriot League in five of the seven statistical categories. The Mids are second in hitting percentage allowed (.148) and blocks (2.43 bpg) and third in hitting percentage (.233), kills (14.20 kpg) and assists (12.70 apg). In addition, Navy stands fifth in digs (15.27 dpg) and sixth in service aces (1.50 sapg).

American leads the Patriot League during the league season in hitting percentage (.323), kills (15.83 kpg), assists (13.74 apg), aces (3.13 sapg) and blocks (2.83 bpg). Individually for the Eagles, Biddulph ranks first in the Patriot League with a .514 attack percentage, second with 4.65 kills per game, is tied for second with 1.04 blocks per game and ranks fourth with 0.61 service aces per game.

Navy's match Friday will be the third of seven-straight league road matches the Mids are playing. Navy also played seven-straight league road matches last season, with the Mids posting a 3-4 record during last year's extended road swing.

Friday's match also will be the start of the second half of the season for both the Mids and the Eagles, while the remainder of the Patriot League will close the first half of their respective seasons this weekend. American enters the week holding a one-half game lead over Army for first place in the league standings. American has posted a 6-1 mark in league matches (13-8 in all matches), with its lone loss -- the first for the program since entering the Patriot League five years ago -- coming last week to the 5-1 Black Knights of Army. Navy stands in third place in the league, one-half game behind Army and with the same size lead over fourth-place Bucknell (4-2). Colgate, who plays at Bucknell this weekend, is in fifth place with a 3-3 record.