Final Stats

ANNAPOLIS, Md. – The Lafayette volleyball team was defeated 3-0 (23-25, 20-25, 20-25) by Navy in a Patriot League match on Tuesday night despite tallying at least 20 points in each of the three sets.

Tori Smith had the largest kill count for the Leopards (3-14, 1-6) with six in the loss to the Midshipmen (14-5, 4-3 PL). Maria Balus and Julia Howard shared the setting duties and combined for 25 assists. Katrina Ruggiero recorded a team-high 14 digs in the contest.

The Midshipmen grabbed a commanding lead in the opening set in large part to a couple of lengthy runs. However, trailing 21-13, the Leopards found a rhythm on the offensive end and went on a 7-0 run that was started and capped off by a Kelly Flynn kill. Flynn also stood out on the defensive side of the ball against Navy, notching three block assists to go along with a solo block.

Navy struggled to put the set away and committed several timely errors, but the Leopards had two costly errors of their own and the Midshipmen took the eventual win, 25-23, after a kill by Sarena Seelbach.

The second set played out similarly to the first as the Midshipmen once again had a large lead over the Leopards. Lafayette began to climb back and after Jet Manzi recorded back-to-back kills and then assisted on a block with Katie Rethmeyer, the lead was cut to three, 20-17. Navy warded off Lafayette in the remainder of the set and went on to win, 25-20.

Navy grabbed an early 11-4 lead over Lafayette in the third set. However, after a Rethmeyer kill and two consecutive errors by the Midshipmen, the deficit was trimmed to four. It was back and forth for a while, but Navy continued to add to its lead, never allowing the Leopards to pick up much ground.

After the Midshipmen tallied a pair of points to make it a 23-15 game, the Leopards called a timeout. Out of the break, Rethmeyer got a kill on the opening volley and then Navy committed three straight attacking errors. This time, Navy took a timeout, leading by just four points. The Midshipmen closed out the set though after Sofia Hruby and Olivia Rozmus each recorded a kill.

The Leopards return to action on Saturday for a Patriot League road contest against Colgate slated for 4 p.m.