With most of the Brigade of Midshipmen at the Navy-Notre Dame football game in New Jersey, one would think attendance at a Navy women’s volleyball game on the same day in Annapolis would suffer.
It didn’t — not by a long shot. The atmosphere at Wesley Brown Fieldhouse on Saturday night was electric thanks in large part to the local community as well as Navy student-athletes who did not travel to MetLife Stadium.
It didn’t hurt that the volleyball team’s opponent was none other than archrival Army, which had beaten Navy in a five-set thriller just a few weeks ago at West Point. So the stage, which included spectators in togas and speedos, was set for another exciting match between the two rivals and early on it appeared that’s what the packed house was going to get.
Army rallied from an early deficit to win a thrilling first set and wound up sweeping Navy by scores of 26-24, 25-19 and 25-19.
Navy, which lost in straight sets to first place Colgate on Friday night, saw Army get off to a quick start in the match behind back-to-back blocks by freshman Victoria Kasanganay. However, the Mids would respond thanks to a few unforced errors by the Black Knights that evened the score at 5-5 in the first set.
The two teams would then trade multiple kills as juniors Julia Humphrey and Ava Toppin helped the Mids stay even at 10-10. The Black Knights got their serving game going and scored three aces to help regain the lead, 15-11.
After Navy head coach Paco Labrador called a timeout to settle his team, the players responded on multiple occasions to keep the home team within reach. Back-to-back kills by Humphrey and freshman Farrah Eike cut the deficit to 18-16, but when the Black Knights needed a big play they always seemed to get it.
Most of those big strikes and blocks came from a pair of 6-foot-4 hitters in junior Mackenzie Lynch and senior Kingsley Wallace as Army’s size at the net gave Navy fits all night. The tandem combined for 21 kills in the match with many coming at pivotal moments.
However, multiple kills by Navy junior Ava Toppin put the Mids up 24-23 and within a point of winning the first set. An Army timeout helped quiet the crowd and allowed the visitors to set up a play for Lynch who delivered the kill to tie the set 24-24. Two points off great serves from Lynch followed and helped Army post a two-point victory.
“I think we played really well in the first set. Army made some errors and their hitting percentage was pretty low. We actually had a higher hitting percentage than them in the first set and still found a way to lose it,” Labrador said.
Navy opened the second set on fire due mainly to Toppin, who had a kill and assisted on two blocks to help the Mids take a 4-0 lead, which would turn out to be the largest of the night for the home team. Lynch and Wallace helped fuel an Army comeback, but Eike started to find her own groove. Three kills by the plebe helped Navy keep pace and eventually take a 13-11 lead in the second set.
“Farrah is probably our most athletic player. I think we found a couple of things that work really well for her and she’s also really consistent to be able to take high swings and not make a ton of errors. I like that about her. She’s playing well,” Labrador said of Eike, who led Navy with 10 kills in the match.
However, Eike and the Mids had no answer for Lynch, who added three more kills and a service ace to fuel a 14-6 run that enabled the Black Knights close out the second set, 25-19.
“Army has done a really good job of developing their players. They have very physical, large, strong kids who are doing some really nice things,” Labrador said.
Needing to win the third set to extend the match, Eike and Navy senior Lilly Lutz combined for eight kills to keep the Mids close and freshman Isa Boyd’s only kill of the match cut the Black Knights’ lead to 13-9. However, Labrador said Army (10-10 overall, 6-5 Patriot League) was just too good in every facet of the game.
“I thought Army did a couple things better in every capacity. There are a lot of different phases of the game, but they are a little better attackers, a little better blockers, a little better servers, and a little better diggers. We were a little bit behind them in all skills,” Labrador said.
Every time it looked as if Navy was going to cut into Army’s lead, it was Wallace (11 kills) and Lynch (10 kills) who slammed the door shut. Fittingly, it was a block by Wallace that sealed the 3-0 victory for Army.
“In the end I think it was just a few marginal points here and there. We don’t score easy points when we need to. Those are the ones that when we get more experience. We will start making those plays,” Labrador said.
Sophomore setter Arleigh Hanson had 18 assists and junior hitter Anuhea Hauanio-Lore added 15 digs for Navy (4-16, 4-7), which has sole possession of seventh place in the Patriot League with five matches remaining. Only the top six teams in the conference make the postseason tournament.
“Anything can happen. We are going to be on the road a little bit so one of the things we are considering is how we can prepare ourselves to be as competitive as we can outside of the friendly confines of Wesley Brown,” Labrador said. “We beat Lehigh here, but they play really well in their gym, and I don’t think we even showed up against Bucknell last time so we have a lot more we can do the next time we see them.”
Regardless, Labrador thought his young group played well against Army and was extremely thankful for the support they received on their home court.
“I can’t thank [everyone] enough for the [varsity] teams that were here, for the Mids that were here, for the community that was here. This was one of the best atmospheres we have ever played in,” he said. “Even though the game didn’t really go the way we wanted it to go, I thought we were really energized by the people who showed up tonight to support us.”