Volleyball Falls to American in Championship

Sunday, November 22

Washington, D.C.

1 PM

Army West Point

21-10

No. 1 American - Patriot League Finals

27-5

Army West Point

American

Volleyball Falls to American in Championship

November 22, 2015 | Volleyball

Box Score

WASHINGTON, D.C. – The Army West Point volleyball team fell 3-0 in Sunday's hard fought Patriot League Championship match to top-seeded American with set scores of 26-24, 25-17 and 26-24. The Black Knights concluded their season with a 21-10 record.

"I thought our offense did a very good job," said head coach Alma Kovaci. "We hit very well and were aggressive on offense, but we struggled mentally in the serving and passing game. There is a reason why American is undefeated, they are a very experienced and good team, but we played them tough. It has been a great season and a great ride with this team. I am proud of the leadership on the team that brought us to where we were today. Compared to last season, this team grew a lot and I feel energized and excited for the future. We have a majority of the team back to work on improving our game next spring."

Vanessa Edwards and Carolyn Bockrath led the Black Knights throughout the weekend to be named to the All- Tournament Team. In today's final match, Edwards recorded her 44th double-double with a match-high 36 assists and 11 digs. Bockrath tallied a team-high 15 kills in today's match and earned a Patriot League Tournament record .769 hitting percentage in the match opposite Lehigh on Saturday.

Amber Clay also recorded double-digit kills in the championship match with 11 and added six digs. Nicole Perri and Olivia Fairfield had six kills, and Shannel Chong recorded 10 digs.

The match featured 24 tie scores and 11 lead changes in an even match. The Eagles led 55.0-50.5 in points and 46-44 in kills. The Black Knights held a 5-3 advantage in blocks, but American led 43-41 in assists and 46-40 in digs.

In set one, American came out to an 8-5 lead, but two-straight points by Clay brought Army within one. The Eagles took an 11-9 lead, but Bockrath tied the set with a block then kill point. American earned a point off a Black Knights' service error, but Clay recorded a kill before an attacking error by the Eagles to re-tie the score at 15-13.

After American took an 18-15 lead, Fairfield brought the Cadets back within two with a kill. Clay earned another Army point after a long rally with a cross court kill. American and the Eagles then traded points, which brought the score to 19-18 in favor of American.

Ellie Petersen tied the set at 19-19 with a service ace. Army took its first lead of the match, 20-19, with an attacking error by the Eagles. American tied the score at 20-all, but the Black Knights reclaimed the lead with a kill from Clay.

After a quick timeout by Army, Bockrath and Perri earned back-to-back kills to take a 23-22 lead. The Eagles then earned two points to set themselves up for match point and to force the Black Knights to call their second timeout. Perri recorded a kill to keep Army alive, but American earned two-straight points to clinch the first set.

The Black Knights tied the second set at 9-all before taking a 12-9 lead and pushing the Eagles to call timeout. Vanessa Wesley earned three-straight kills for Army in that stretch. The Eagles however jumped ahead 22-15. The Black Knights earned a point from an Eagles service error. Perri tallied a kill to push the score to 23-17 in favor of American. An attacking error and service ace clinched the second set for the Eagles 25-17.

In set three, the Black Knights jumped out to an 11-8 lead. The Black Knights continued their lead to 20-16 before the Eagles chipped away to tie the set at 23-all. American went up 24-23 after a few errors by the Black Knights. Bockrath notched a crucial kill to re-tie the score at 24-24. The Eagles then recorded two-straight kills to clinch the match 26-24.

American improved to 27-5 on the season and earned an automatic berth to the NCAA Tournament.

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