Army West Point Athletics
Army West Point
9-12
NJIT
6-16
Volleyball Cruises Past NJIT
October 15, 2014 | Volleyball
Oct. 15, 2014
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WEST POINT, N.Y. - The Army volleyball team closed the non-conference portion of its schedule with a straight-set victory over NJIT on Wednesday evening at Gillis Field House. The Black Knights rolled past the Highlanders by set scores of 25-10, 25-23 and 25-15.
Army opened the match with the first three points, including two aces by setter Vanessa Edwards. Following an Army attack error that put NJIT on the board, Nicole Perri's right-handed spike ignited a run of five consecutive points and forced the Highlanders to call timeout trailing 8-1. The Black Knights extended the lead to 15-6 on another kill by Perri as NJIT used its final timeout of the game. Army hit .524 with 11 assists by Edwards and led by as many as 15 points en route to a 1-0 lead in the match. Edwards finished with 29 assists and Deanna Dalton had 15 digs.
After posting three kills in the opening set, Rachel Gearon opened the second set with another. NJIT came back to take an early 4-3 lead, its first of the night, before Army ripped off four points in a row to go up 7-4. Facing a 13-8 deficit, NJIT cut Army's advantage to one with the next four tallies, but Perri delivered a kill and a service error to put the home team back in front by three. NJIT refused to go away and eventually tied the set at 18-18 when Army called a timeout. Amber Clay put down one of her eight kills out of the stoppage, NJIT scored twice to take a 20-19 lead, before Perri tied the score at 20. After ties at 21, 22 and 23 all, Army closed the deal by taking advantage of a pair of NJIT miscues.
The Black Knights, who improved to 9-12 on the season, distanced itself in the decisive third set with four straight points, including an ace by Kristen Smeland that prompted NJIT to call timeout down 8-4. Back-to-back kills from Edwards made it 11-6 Army, before three points by the Highlanders trimmed the lead to two. Kills by Gearon and Perri, followed by an Edwards ace regained the five-point cushion (14-9). Army closed the set and the match with a 9-2 run, punctuated by Perri's match-high 10th kill.
Fran Edmondson led NJIT with nine kills and Alyssa Armada handed out 24 assists for the Highlanders, who dropped to 6-16 on the year.
Army begins the second half of Patriot League play on Saturday when it travels to Holy Cross for a 4 p.m. contest with the Crusaders.
