Volleyball Drops Five Set Match to Navy in Patriot League Tournament First Round

LEWISBURG, Pa. -- Bucknell led two sets to one but Navy rallied to win a five-set classic (25-21, 22-25, 25-20, 22-25, 8-15) on Tuesday night in the First Round of the Patriot League Tournament. Navy defied conventional wisdom and defeated Bucknell for the third time this year. The two teams traded points all evening and staged comebacks galore.

Navy led in kills 64-56 and aces 6-1. Bucknell had the 74-70 edge in digs. Navy's defense was extremely effective, recording 14 blocks, including multiple decisive ones in the fifth set.

Sidney Shaffer, the reigning two-time Patriot League Player of the Week and Bison of the Week, paced Bucknell with 14 kills and 3.5 blocks. Three other Bison recorded double-digit kills: Bri Frazilus (11), Tijana Kostic (10), and Bella Rodriguez (10). Frazilus and Rodriguez tied for the team-lead in digs (18). Cameron Lloyd, the two-time reigning Patriot League Defensive Player of the Week, added 17.

Laura Caro and Caleigh O'Connell split setter duties and both were efficient. Caro supplied 24 assists and O'Connell, in her final Bucknell game, provided 20.

Caroline Buffum led Navy with 18 kills. Ava Toppin, a Patriot League First Team recipient, hit -.071 but collected four solo blocks and five block assists.

Navy steamed ahead to an 8-2 lead in the opening set and extended the advantage to 15-7. Bucknell continued to chip ahead and pared the lead down to 21-16. Then, the Bison launched a 9-0 run for the ages. Riley Tucker started the segment with a kill and Kostic scored three including the set winner. The rally frazzled Navy who committed several errors.

The second set initially followed the opening stanza's pattern. Navy grabbed the early lead and kept ahead of the Bison. Their 16-10 lead looked comfortably but again the tenacious Bison rallied to cut the deficit to 22-21. The Midshipmen responded with three kills to tie the game.

Navy's serving woes were the story of the third set. The Mids committed six service errors to boost the Bison effort. Bucknell used those mistakes to stay slightly ahead of the foe. Navy slipped ahead 17-16 before the Bison grabbed the 20-19 lead. The teams each scored a point before a 4-0 Orange & Blue run capped by a Navy attack error won the set for Bucknell.

The Mids, facing elimination, fought desperately in the fourth set and went ahead 10-7. Bucknell, eager to win in front of a sizable Davis Gym crowd, kept plugging away but still faced a 20-16 deficit. The Bison sliced the advantage down to 23-22 on back-to-back Tucker and Kostic kills. Navy responded with two straight points to force a fifth set.

Navy swam ahead 7-2 to start the set. Bucknell pushed back to an 8-6 deficit. The Bison appeared to have their seventh point but Navy made an extraordinary effort to save an errant ball and scored a point off it. Bucknell, undaunted, tallied the next two points, but Navy came up with two blocks, followed by two Farrah Eike kills to win the set and match.

Five players, Laura Caro, Bri Frazilus, Tijana Kostic, Caleigh O'Connell, and Riley Tucker played their final game for Bucknell. All five players will be greatly missed along the Banks of the Susquehanna.

Volleyball Drops Five Set Match to Navy in Patriot League Tournament First Round

Team Stats

Sidney Shaffer

Bri Frazilus

Tijana Kostic

Bella Rodriguez

Players Mentioned

Laura Caro

Bri Frazilus

Tijana Kostic

Cameron Lloyd

Caleigh O'Connell

Bella Rodriguez

Sidney Shaffer

Riley Tucker