Army West Point Athletics
Friday, August 28
Fayetteville, AR
5 PM ET
Army West Point
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#RV Kansas
Volleyball Set for 2015 Debut
August 27, 2015 | Volleyball
WEST POINT, N.Y. – Led by head coach Alma Kovaci, the Army West Point volleyball team opens its 2015 campaign this weekend at the Arkansas Invitational in Fayetteville, Ark.
"We are very excited to start our competition in Arkansas," said Kovaci. "We will face three teams from three different conferences in a span of two days. Opening up with a top team like Kansas won't be easy, but in order to be the best, we need to face the best. As coaches, our expectation is for the team to play hard for every point and execute at the best of their abilities."
Kovaci returns 13 from the 2014 squad that finished 14-16 overall and 9-7 in the Patriot League and adds only three newcomers to the 2015 team. The team returns virtually its entire offense with All-Patriot League Preseason selections Nicole Perri and Carolyn Bockrath, as well as Vanessa Edwards leading the way.
Last season, Perri ranked second in the conference in kills with 318. Her 3.03 kills per set average ranked fourth in the league and Perri appeared in 105 of the Cadets' 107 sets last season, the most of any player on the team. She also contributed 119 digs, and was second in blocks behind Bockrath who totaled 38.
Bockrath was named the 2014 Patriot League Rookie of the Year after a stellar debut season with the Black Knights. She climbed to the No. 2 spot on the Army West Point record book for single-season hitting percentage with .390 with 579 attack attempts, 279 kills and just 53 errors.
In 2014, Edwards topped the Patriot League in assists per set with 9.97. She led the Black Knights with an average of .40 service aces per set and also contributed 22 blocks in 77 sets.
The Black Knights open their season on Friday, Sept. 28 against first-time opponent Kansas at 5 p.m. (ET). On Saturday, the Black Knights will face Arkansas at 12 p.m. (ET) and McNeese State at 5:30 p.m. (ET) to wrap-up the tournament.
"It will be an exciting weekend with great opportunities to gain experience and toughness that will be extremely valuable for Patriot League play," added Kovaci.
The Jayhawks enter the season just barely missing the national rankings that were released earlier this month. Last season, Kansas went 22-9 overall and was 10-6 in conference play. The Jayhawks earned a berth to the NCAA tournament where they fell to the University of Arkansas – Little Rock, 3-2.
This season Kansas was voted to finish fourth in the Big 12 conference behind No. 3 Texas, No. 21 Iowa State and Oklahoma. The Jayhawks had three All-Big 12 Preseason Team honorees in Taylor Soucie, Kelsie Payne and Ainise Havili.
Soucie was the 2014 conference leader in blocks per set with an average of 1.40, and Payne ranked second in the Big 12 in attack percentage (.341) and was ninth in blocks per set (1.06). Havili also returns to the starting lineup after a strong rookie campaign where she tallied a Big 12-best 1332 assists.
The match against Kansas will be broadcasted on KUAthletics.com/Radio. Livestats are available here.
Army will face Arkansas for the second time in program history on Saturday. The Black Knights and Razorbacks squared-off once before during the 2011 season when Arkansas won 3-0.
Arkansas was picked to finish fifth in the Southeastern Conference (SEC) Preseason Poll, trailing No. 4 Florida, Alabama, Kentucky and Texas A&M. Arkansas finished 15-16 overall and 9-9 in conference play last fall and return 12 from its roster with five newcomers.
Three Razorbacks earned All-SEC Preseason Team nods including Monica Bolinger, Liz Fortado and Chanell Clark-Bibbs. As a freshman in 2014, Clark-Bibbs led Arkansas with a .337 hitting percentage, ranking eighth in blocks per set (1.01) and 18th in points per set (3.25).
The match against Arkansas will be streamed live on SEC Network +, the network's digital platform. Web broadcasts are available online at SECNetwork.com, ESPN3.com, through the WatchESPN app or by clicking here. Livestats are available here.
The Cowgirls are another first-time opponent for the Black Knights. McNeese State finished the 2014 season with a record of 15-17 overall and 5-11 in the Southland Conference. The Cowgirls return Amber Fryer and Malina Sanchez who led the team in kills with 259 and 232, respectively. Kelly Graham also returns to fuel the offense after averaging 9.25 assists per set during her junior campaign.
Livestats are available here.
For up-to-date information about Army volleyball, please follow @ArmyWP_VB on Twitter and Instagram.
"We are very excited to start our competition in Arkansas," said Kovaci. "We will face three teams from three different conferences in a span of two days. Opening up with a top team like Kansas won't be easy, but in order to be the best, we need to face the best. As coaches, our expectation is for the team to play hard for every point and execute at the best of their abilities."
Kovaci returns 13 from the 2014 squad that finished 14-16 overall and 9-7 in the Patriot League and adds only three newcomers to the 2015 team. The team returns virtually its entire offense with All-Patriot League Preseason selections Nicole Perri and Carolyn Bockrath, as well as Vanessa Edwards leading the way.
Last season, Perri ranked second in the conference in kills with 318. Her 3.03 kills per set average ranked fourth in the league and Perri appeared in 105 of the Cadets' 107 sets last season, the most of any player on the team. She also contributed 119 digs, and was second in blocks behind Bockrath who totaled 38.
Bockrath was named the 2014 Patriot League Rookie of the Year after a stellar debut season with the Black Knights. She climbed to the No. 2 spot on the Army West Point record book for single-season hitting percentage with .390 with 579 attack attempts, 279 kills and just 53 errors.
In 2014, Edwards topped the Patriot League in assists per set with 9.97. She led the Black Knights with an average of .40 service aces per set and also contributed 22 blocks in 77 sets.
The Black Knights open their season on Friday, Sept. 28 against first-time opponent Kansas at 5 p.m. (ET). On Saturday, the Black Knights will face Arkansas at 12 p.m. (ET) and McNeese State at 5:30 p.m. (ET) to wrap-up the tournament.
"It will be an exciting weekend with great opportunities to gain experience and toughness that will be extremely valuable for Patriot League play," added Kovaci.
The Jayhawks enter the season just barely missing the national rankings that were released earlier this month. Last season, Kansas went 22-9 overall and was 10-6 in conference play. The Jayhawks earned a berth to the NCAA tournament where they fell to the University of Arkansas – Little Rock, 3-2.
This season Kansas was voted to finish fourth in the Big 12 conference behind No. 3 Texas, No. 21 Iowa State and Oklahoma. The Jayhawks had three All-Big 12 Preseason Team honorees in Taylor Soucie, Kelsie Payne and Ainise Havili.
Soucie was the 2014 conference leader in blocks per set with an average of 1.40, and Payne ranked second in the Big 12 in attack percentage (.341) and was ninth in blocks per set (1.06). Havili also returns to the starting lineup after a strong rookie campaign where she tallied a Big 12-best 1332 assists.
The match against Kansas will be broadcasted on KUAthletics.com/Radio. Livestats are available here.
Army will face Arkansas for the second time in program history on Saturday. The Black Knights and Razorbacks squared-off once before during the 2011 season when Arkansas won 3-0.
Arkansas was picked to finish fifth in the Southeastern Conference (SEC) Preseason Poll, trailing No. 4 Florida, Alabama, Kentucky and Texas A&M. Arkansas finished 15-16 overall and 9-9 in conference play last fall and return 12 from its roster with five newcomers.
Three Razorbacks earned All-SEC Preseason Team nods including Monica Bolinger, Liz Fortado and Chanell Clark-Bibbs. As a freshman in 2014, Clark-Bibbs led Arkansas with a .337 hitting percentage, ranking eighth in blocks per set (1.01) and 18th in points per set (3.25).
The match against Arkansas will be streamed live on SEC Network +, the network's digital platform. Web broadcasts are available online at SECNetwork.com, ESPN3.com, through the WatchESPN app or by clicking here. Livestats are available here.
The Cowgirls are another first-time opponent for the Black Knights. McNeese State finished the 2014 season with a record of 15-17 overall and 5-11 in the Southland Conference. The Cowgirls return Amber Fryer and Malina Sanchez who led the team in kills with 259 and 232, respectively. Kelly Graham also returns to fuel the offense after averaging 9.25 assists per set during her junior campaign.
Livestats are available here.
For up-to-date information about Army volleyball, please follow @ArmyWP_VB on Twitter and Instagram.
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