Volleyball Prepares for Patriot League Tournament

WEST POINT, N.Y. – The second-seeded Army West Point volleyball team is set to face third-seeded Lehigh at the Patriot League Tournament in Washington, D.C., on Saturday, Nov. 21, at 4 p.m. This is the 17th consecutive season that the Black Knights have competed at the conference tournament.

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"We are energized and feel really good," said Alma Kovaci. "Last week was tough for the team, but their words now are revenge, humble and finish and I think they will do that this weekend. Even though we are going into a championship weekend, things don't change. We still have to focus on what we've done all season and I still think serving and passing is the key to our success this year. We will continue to work hard on that, especially Nicole and Amber."

Army last won the championship in 2009 when it defeated American 3-0 and hopes to advance with the chance of playing the winner of No. 1 American and No. 4 Colgate on Sunday for the title.

The Black Knights recorded a memorable season and reached the 20-win mark for the first time since 2012. This year's squad enters the tournament at 20-9 overall and are 12-4 in league play. The Cadets lead the Patriot League in two team and three individual statistical categories.

As a team, Army leads the league in kills per set (13.95) and assists per set (12.97), and rank second in hitting percentage (.257) and digs per set (15.97). Individually, the Black Knights own the top spot in assists and digs, as well as the top two spots in hitting percentage.

Vanessa Edwards boasts the highest assist per set average in the league. She is the only one in the Patriot League to have a double-digit average and the 10.95 ranks her 35th in the country. Shannel Chong is tied for the top spot in the conference at 4.49 digs per set, while Carolyn Bockrath (.418) and Vanessa Wesley (.404) are first and second in hitting percentage. Bockrath and Wesley are the only two in the league to hit over .400 to rank amongst the nations' best at No. 13 and No. 23, respectively.

Earlier this week, the conference handed out All-Patriot League awards with Edwards and Nicole Perri garnering first-team recognition. Bockrath and Wesley both earned second-team honors for Army.

"It is great to see where we were last season compared to where we are now," Kovaci said. "The improvement is great to see especially from our sophomore class and I feel energized when I see us getting things done. The postseason is a new, separate season and now we have to again start from the beginning. We are going to stay confident in our skills and attacking and blocking. That will be big for us and we are going to play with grit on defense.

"Our match against Lehigh will be a defensive battle. They are a very good defensive team and they make substitutions with the defense and we are doing well with our attacking right now. I think that if we continue to focus on our strengths and if we play with grit and defense it will be a great battle."

The Cadets and Mountain Hawks have both earned wins against each other this season. Army swept in the first meeting of the year, 3-0, while Lehigh downed the Black Knights 3-2 in the regular-season finale.

Lehigh enters its fifth-straight tournament and is the No. 3 seed with a 19-12 record. The Mountain Hawks went 11-5 in the conference with a loss from Army and Lafayette, and two losses from American.

Leah Turner leads in kills per set (4.06) during Patriot League contests. She finished the regular season with 370 kills and 229 digs. Turner recorded double-digit kills in 22 matches and tallied six double-doubles throughout the season. Stephanie Slater enters the weekend with 315 kills and a .260 hitting percentage. She averaged 3.09 kills per set during conferences matches and tallied 61 blocks.

The Black Knights open the tournament against No. 3 Lehigh on Saturday at 4 p.m., and the winning team will face-off against the winner of No. 1 American and No. 4 Colgate on Sunday at 1 p.m.

For up-to-date information about Army volleyball, please follow @ArmyWP_VB on Twitter and Instagram.

Volleyball Prepares for Patriot League Tournament

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Players Mentioned

Carolyn Bockrath

Shannel Chong

Vanessa Edwards

Nicole Perri

Vanessa Wesley

Army West Point Athletics