Army West Point Athletics
Army West Point
14-15, 9-7Patriot
Navy
14-11, 11-5Patriot
Army Falls to Navy on Senior Night, 3-1
November 15, 2014 | Volleyball
WEST POINT, N.Y. - The Army volleyball team dropped a 3-1 decision to Navy on senior night to close out the regular season by set scores of 25-16, 25-11, 23-25, 25-14. The Black Knights will be seeded fourth in the upcoming Patriot League tournament where they will face top-seeded American.
Rookie Carolyn Bockrath led Army in kills with 12, while senior Deanna Dalton had 23 digs. Freshman Avery Alexander tallied 38 assists and added 10 digs.
"We knew coming into this that we were facing a very good Navy team this year," said head coach Alma Kovaci. "I am so proud of our girls for fighting when we were down and it was great to see them fight and come back in the third set. There were a lot of moments of greatness in the third set and that is where we expect Army volleyball to be."
Army's three seniors, Dalton, Kristen Smeland and Molly McDonald, were honored prior to the match.
"We are very proud of the seniors for their four years of dedication and hard work to shape the program," added Kovaci. "We are looking forward to playing in the Patriot League Championships this weekend."
Junior Nicole Perri added 10 kills for the Black Knights. Navy had four players with double digit kills and Gaby Smith posted a double-double with 10 kills and 15 digs.
Bockrath got off to a hot start for Army and tied the match at six apiece in the first set before Navy went on a 7-3 run to go ahead 13-9. The Black Knights pulled within three at 15-12, but the Midshipmen finished off the opening set on a 10-4 run to take it, 25-16.
Army came out flat in the second set as Navy jumped out to a 10-3 lead. Freshman Amber Clay recorded a kill for Army before the Mids scored eight points in a row to take a commanding 18-4 lead. The Black Knights took the next three points to force a Navy timeout, but the Mids kept attacking and capped off a 25-11 set win on a kill from Smith.
The third set was a completely different story as the Black Knights used the support of a raucous crowd to gain some momentum. The two teams went back and forth and remained within a point of each other until freshman Jaden Pickell's kill gave Army a two-point lead at 11-9.
Navy kept hanging tough and Army was forced to use a timeout after Maggie Phillips tallied a service ace to put the Mids back on top. Kovaci had to spend another timeout after Smith gave Navy a 19-17 lead with a kill. Trailing 22-19, Army clawed its way back and forced a Navy timeout after Clay's kill tied the set at 23 all. The Black Knights then took the final two points as Bockrath gave Army the 25-23 set win with a kill of her own.
Another Bockrath kill knotted the score at 3-3 in the fourth and final set, but then Navy scored four in a row. Army struggled to erase the early deficit and found itself down 13-6 after a kill by Alex Cassel. After the Mids went up by 10 at 18-8, the Black Knights forced a Navy timeout behind a 3-0 run. In the end, Navy was just too much and took the final set, 25-14.
Army finishes the regular season with a 14-15 record overall and 9-7 in the Patriot League, while Navy finishes in third place with an 11-5 PL mark.
The Black Knights will face No. 1 seed American on Saturday, Nov. 22 at 1 p.m. The Eagles went 24-6 overall and 15-1 in the conference. Army fell to American at Gillis Field House, 3-2, on Oct. 5 and was swept by the Eagles in Washington, D.C., on Nov. 8.
