Army West Point Athletics
Volleyball Controls Postseason Fate With Two Matches Left
November 13, 2014 | Volleyball
WEST POINT, N.Y. - After splitting its matches at Loyola and American last weekend, the Army volleyball team turns its attention to the final regular season matches of the 2014 season. Army, which is tied with Colgate for the fourth and final spot in the Patriot League Tournament race, hosts Lafayette and Navy this weekend at Gillis Field House.
The Black Knights control their postseason destiny and will advance to the tournament for the 16th consecutive year with wins over Lafayette and Navy. Army and Colgate have identical 8-6 records in conference play and both sit one game behind Navy at 9-5 with two contests remaining for each squad. By virtue of Army's season sweep of Colgate, the Black Knights hold the tiebreaker over the Raiders if they finish tied in the final standings. Colgate hosts American (14-0 Patriot) and Loyola (0-14 Patriot) this weekend in Hamilton, N.Y.
Army is third in the Patriot League in kills per set (12.67), assists per set (11.74) and service aces per set (1.46). Carolyn Bockrath leads the league with a .390 hitting percentage and has 248 kills on 515 total attacks this season. Three Army players are in the top 10 in kills in the Patriot League. Nicole Perri ranks fifth, Amber Clay is ninth and Carolyn Bockrath occupies 10th. Deanna Dalton sits in seventh place in the league with a total of 306 digs.
Lafayette is 2-12 in Patriot League matches this season and 5-21 overall, but played Army to a five-set loss earlier this season in Easton, Pa.
After Lafayette came away with a 25-23 win in the fourth set, Army wasted no time in taking control of the fifth frame and the match. Amber Clay earned a double-double with 16 kills and 10 digs. Nicole Perri and Carolyn Bockrath each posted 17 kills with Bockrath hitting .500 and Perri at .417. Bockrath's 17 kills tied a season high for the rookie, while classmate Jaden Pickell set a new career mark with a .381 hitting percentage with nine kills. Setter Vanessa Edwards recorded a double-double with 61 assists and 13 digs and added three aces. Senior Deanna Dalton posted 22 digs and Janaya Simmons' 11 digs were a season-high.
As a team, Lafayette is at the bottom of the Patriot League in hitting percentage, kills, assists and digs but is fifth in service aces at 1.41 per set. Jet Manzi is second in the conference with 35 service aces and leads the team with 205 kills. Tori Smith ranks 10th in the Patriot League averaging 5.16 assists per set and Lauren Pisauro is fourth in digs with 380.
Against Navy, Army held late leads in each set, but Navy scored the critical points in a 3-0 victory at Alumni Hall. The Mids won the first two sets by identical 27-25 scores and the third 28-26 to secure the volleyball star. Navy's star match win evened the star series between the two schools at 1-1.
Both matches will start at 7 p.m. and will be streamed live online by Knight Vision and Saturday's contest against Navy will also be senior night, where the Army Volleyball Class of 2015 will be honored in a pregame ceremony.
