Oct. 20, 2011

ANNAPOLIS, Md. -- The Navy volleyball team will open the second half of its Patriot League season this weekend when the Mids play matches Friday at Bucknell (7 p.m.) and Saturday at Colgate (2 p.m.). Links to live statistics from both matches can be found at NavySports.com. Additionally, Colgate will provide a live video stream of Saturday's match for the cost of $5.95.

Navy, in the midst of a span that is seeing it play seven of eight matches on the road, has posted a 1-6 record against Patriot League opponents this season. Meanwhile, Bucknell has tallied a 2-5 record in league matches and Colgate enters a Friday night match against American with a 5-2 record after the first half of the league campaign.

The first meeting between the Mids and the Bison this year saw Navy rally from a 0-2 deficit in sets to defeat Bucknell (18-25, 19-25, 25-19, 26-24, 15-13). Despite being slightly outhit on the afternoon, .257-234, the Mids finished the match with advantages over the Bison in both kills (66-55) and digs (75-62). Navy also added seven service aces and seven blocks, with Bucknell posting five aces and 12 team blocks. Bucknell's Jessica Serrato paced all players in the match with 21 kills, with Maida Kalic' (Sr., Vernon, N.Y.) and Carolyn Ewert (Jr., Bakersfield, Calif.) tallying 16 and 15 kills, respectively, for the Mids. Both liberos also were active in the match, with Navy's Holly Berger (Sr., Claremont, Calif.) and Bucknell's Leylin Marroquin each finishing the afternoon with 20 digs.

The Mids previously dropped a 3-1 (18-25, 25-20, 25-15, 25-13) decision to Colgate when the teams met earlier this season in Annapolis. The Raiders tallied 53 kills and a .241 attack percentage while holding the Mids to 39 kills and a .139 attack percentage. Colgate's Kaylee Dougherty recorded 15 kills and hit .400 to lead all players in both statistical categories. Katie Bray (Jr., Cary, N.C.) was the leading Navy attacker in the match with 12 kills.

"We were able to put together a good start in our first match against Colgate, but couldn't carry that momentum through the remainder of the match," said Navy head coach Larry Bock. "Then we had a poor start against Bucknell and were able to overcome that. We need to have a strong start to both matches this weekend and continue playing at that level to the very end of the match."

Most recently, Navy lost a pair of matches last weekend to Lehigh and Lafayette. The Mids lost to the Mountain Hawks in three sets and to the Leopards in four sets. Kalic put together one of the more consistent offensive weekends for the Mids as she tied for the team lead in kills against Lehigh and ranked second to Erin Fortner (So., Villa Hills, Ky.) against Lafayette. Kalic also hit a combined .235 on the trip.