Nov. 12, 2010
Box Score
EASTON, Pa. - The Lafayette volleyball team stormed back from a 2-1 hole on Friday night, overcome late deficits in the fourth and fifth frames to knock off Navy in a five-set thriller at Kirby Sports Center. The Leopards took the match by set scores of 22-25, 25-18, 15-25, 25-23 and 15-12.
With their first Patriot League win of the season, Lafayette moves to 5-22 overall with a 1-12 league mark. The win mirrors the first meeting between the two teams, in which the Leopards held a 2-1 edge in Annapolis before falling in five sets. Navy moves to 7-22 on the season with a 1-12 record in Patriot League play.
Senior co-captain Kayly Elmer had a match-best 16 kills, propelling herself into second place all-time at Lafayette with 1,178 career finishers. She also picked up 16 digs to round out her sixth double-double of the season. Junior Alana Taylor had 12 kills - hitting at a scorching .550 clip - and senior co-captain Katrina Racibarskas tallied 10 kills. Sophomore Sarah Frohnapfel ran the offense and doled out 45 assists in addition to five kills and three digs.
Defensively, freshman libero Macknezie Larsen shared the match high with 22 digs and also landed three of Lafayette's eight service aces. Navy's Holly Berger also had 22 digs as the Leopards and Mids were even at 65-65 in the back row.
Racibarskas and sophomore Alexandra Russo led the effort at the net with four blocks apiece, though Navy held an 11.5-9.0 edge in total rejections.
After a late run propelled the Mids to a 25-22 win in set one, the Leopards came out firing in the second frame. Lafayette rattled off eight straight points to break a 6-6 tie - fueled by two aces from Larsen and four Navy errors - and never looked back en route to tying the match, 1-1, with a 25-18 victory.
The Mids regained control of the match with a strong showing in set three, taking a 25-15 decision to nab a 2-1 edge. The visitors were poised to close out the Leopards, leading by a 21-18 margin set four, but Lafayette battled to a 21-21 tie and then won four of the final six rallies to claim a 25-23 win and force a deciding fifth set.
The fifth frame was tight from the start, with the squads remaining within a point of each other until the Mids rattled off two straight to take an 8-6 lead as the teams switched sides of the net. The Leopards responded with two consecutive points out of the 60-second stoppage, tying the score once again at 8-8. The deadlock held up to an 11-11 count, at which point a contested call - a call that resulted in a yellow card for Leopards' head coach Terri Dadio Campbell - gave Navy a 12-11 lead. The Mids would not notch another point, as back-to-back kills from Elmer gave the advantage back to Lafayette at 13-12. Taylor slammed home an overpass in the ensuing rally to push the score to match-point, and she and Russo then teamed up for a block to finish off the Mids by a 15-12 tally.
Lauren Carpenter (12 kills, 10 digs), Jenny Rudewicz (21 assists, 12 digs) and Erin Fortner (10 kills, 12 assists) all posted double-doubles for the Mids in the losing effort.
The Leopards will close out 2010 tomorrow afternoon against American, which locked up the Patriot League regular season title this evening with a 3-0 sweep at Lehigh. First serve against the Eagles (26-2, 13-0 Patriot) is slated for 4 p.m. Senior co-captains Elmer and Racibarskas will be honored prior to the contest.
