Bucknell University
Navy
Career Night for Titley Sends Bucknell Volleyball to 3-1 Win Over Navy
10/22/2010 8:00:00 AM | Volleyball
Oct. 22, 2010
ANNAPOLIS, Md. - Kristen Titley (Coral Gables, Fla./Palmer Trinity School) recorded her first career double-double and Katie Baumgarten (South Pasadena, Calif./South Pasadena) added another career high in kills to help Bucknell volleyball to a 3-1 victory over Navy (22-25, 27-25, 25-23, 25-23) at the Wesley A. Brown Fieldhouse on Friday night. Titley led all players with 19 kills as the Bison improved to 8-12 overall and 6-2 in the Patriot League.
Titley obliterated her previous personal-best marks. The freshman had posted nine kills and nine digs at Canisius on Sept. 11 before reaching 19 kills and 14 digs opposite Navy this evening. She was one of four Bison to set at least one career high in the match, being joined by Baumgarten's 15 kills and Kebah Edoho's (Odenton, Md./Arundel) six kills and two digs.
Also reaching a career milestone of a different sort was Heidi Kamp (Eugene, Ore./Henry D. Sheldon). The senior finished the night with three blocks, tying her for fourth on Bucknell's all-time total blocks list. Kamp has now equaled Heather Rendle's career total of 302. Head coach Cindy Opalski also coached her 600th match at Bucknell and improved her record to 295-305 with the Bison.
Despite the list of individual high points reached by the end of the night, Bucknell did not see its night start off how it would have liked. Emily Sawanobori (Warren, N.J./Watchung Hills) served an ace to take the lead at 5-4. That advantage held up for quite a while before Navy's (7-17, 1-7) persistent play put it back in control.
Nicole Salmon recorded back-to-back kills for 16-15, giving the Midshipmen their first lead since 4-3. The Bison tied the set twice more, but they were never able to fully recover and soon found themselves down a set.
Bucknell seemed to turn the corner in the second, jumping out to a 7-1 lead to open the set. Navy answered with an identical streak, however, and the teams were right back where they started, tied at 8 apiece. Baumgarten then played a huge role in reclaiming the momentum for the Bison. The junior was responsible for three kills and a block assist during a run that gave eight of 11 points to Bucknell.
This time it was Navy's turn to tie the set twice late in the action, and just like Bucknell earlier in the night, the effort fell short. Baumgarten gave the Bison set point with kills at 25-24 and 26-25. Not until Kamp and Kat Tauscher (Washington, D.C./National Cathedral) teamed up for a block for 27-25 was Bucknell able to even the match at one set apiece.
The match continued to see a little bit of everything as the third set got underway. Bucknell saw its lead slip away in the first frame before thwarting Navy's comeback bid in the second. The third set was Bucknell's turn to show off its resilience as it spent much of the action playing catch-up.
The Bison fell from a 5-5 tie following an ace from Rachel Rodriguez (Sagamore Hills, Ohio/Walsh Jesuit) to a 13-7 deficit after a string of errors. Little by little, however, they clawed their way back into contention and eventually worked their way back to a tie at 19-19. Four ties later, Titley closed out the set with three consecutive kills and gave Bucknell its first set lead of the night by a score of 25-23.
Titley finished the third frame with six kills, and her strong play continued into the fourth. Baumgarten got the offense going with three early kills, but it was Titley's that gave the Bison their first lead at 7-6. Neither team was able to put together a run of more than just a few points, and the lead by either squad never exceeded three points during the final set. Despite the close play, Bucknell stayed a step ahead of Navy. Ultimately it was a balanced Bucknell attack - Baumgarten, Titley, Ragin Jackson (Cortlandt Manor, N.Y./Hendrick Hudson) and Kamp each claimed four kills - and some late service errors that ended the Midshipmen's night with another close loss at 25-23.
Rodriguez joined the list of leaders with 26 assists and three aces. Leylin Marroquin (Lone Tree, Colo./Highlands Ranch) claimed 19 digs on the night, and Jackson tallied six blocks as well.
Salmon set the high mark in kills for Navy with 16, and Jenny Rudewicz added 24 assists. Holly Berger also finished with 19 digs.
Bucknell's match win was its sixth in seven matches and puts it in sole possession of third place in the Patriot League standings. The Bison will take on the top-ranked squad in American tomorrow at 3 p.m. in Washington, D.C.
