Nov. 13, 2009

Final Stats

LEWISBURG, Pa. – The superstition of bad luck on Friday the 13th turned out to be true for Bucknell volleyball as the Bison fell 3-0 to Navy (25-17, 25-19, 25-23) in Davis Gym on Friday night. A team-high 10 kills from Kaitlin Segal (Pacific Palisades, Calif./Harvard-Westlake) was not enough to keep Bucknell from dropping its sixth straight match.

Bucknell (8-17, 4-9) was slow to get out of the gates and never recovered. Despite opening with a 4-0 lead and holding on to a slight advantage through much of the first set, the Bison fell behind after a hot-serving Lauren Carpenter did her work at the service line. Carpenter led the Midshipmen (8-20, 3-10) to 10 straight points for on her serve, including three aces. By the time the Bison got a sideout, they trailed 21-15.

From that point on, it was just a matter of time before Navy earned the win in the first frame. Lindsay Smith (Boulder, Colo./Monarch) and Heidi Kamp (Eugene, Ore./Henry D. Sheldon) combined for a block assist to save match point, but it turned out to be too little, too late as Navy closed it out at 25-17 on a kill by Meghan Carpenter.

Bucknell hit just .065 in the first set, compared to .205 for Navy. The Bison were unable to reverse their fortunes in the second, as the differential in attack percentage continued to grow as the match wore on. The Mids hit .450 in the second set, while the Bison came in at .115.

Bucknell had struggled to reclaim any momentum in the second set and fell behind early. Segal and Katie Baumgarten (South Pasadena, Calif./South Pasadena) peppered kills throughout play to keep their team close. Segal even threw in back-to-back aces to bring Bucknell to within a single point at 14-13. In the end, however, the Mids took the in on the serving of Lauren Carpenter, who served an ace to close the set, 25-19.

The Bison got their best look at a victory in the third. The score stayed close through the first few points before Ragin Jackson (Cortlandt Manor, N.Y./Hendrick Hudson) and Baumgarten found their offensive swing. Jackson twice gave Bucknell a four-point lead following kills, while Baumgarten gave her team its biggest lead of the night at five points with back-to-back strikes for 15-10.

Navy clawed its way back in the set, however, recording five straight points to tie it at 15 apiece. The two teams tied the score five more times before the end, but the Mids got the advantage when it counted. Meghan Carpenter gave Navy match point at 24-22, and a Bucknell attack error gave the Mids the match at 25-23.

Head coach Cindy Opalski was complimentary of the Navy squad following the match.

“I’d like to give some credit to Navy tonight,” said Opalski. “They’ve been racked with some injuries this year. After those injuries, they have been really resilient and they played well tonight.”

Baumgarten recorded seven kills on the night, setting a season-high. Kamp finished with just five kills, but led both squads with four blocks.

Meghan Carpenter led both teams with 11 kills, and Jenny Rudewicz did the same with 33 assists. Lauren Carpenter served five aces and posted a match-high 11 digs.

Bucknell will be back on the court for its final match of the season at 5 p.m. tomorrow. The Bison will face off in Davis Gym against American, which is fighting for the top seed in the Patriot League Tournament.