Army West Point Athletics
Army West Point
0-1
St. John's
1-0
| Team | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Final F |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Army | 12 | 25 | 10 | 23 | 1 |
| St. John's | 25 | 16 | 25 | 25 | 3 |
Volleyball Drops Opening Match to St. John's
August 29, 2014 | Volleyball
Box Score | Box Score (PDF)
SMITHFIELD, R.I. – The Army volleyball team opened its 2014 campaign on Friday afternoon with a 3-1 loss to St. John’s in its first match of the Hampton Inn-vitational at Chace Athletic Center. The Red Storm won the first set 25-12, the third set 25-10 and the fourth set 25-23, while Army earned the point in set two, 25-16.
As a team, St. John’s totaled 49 kills with a .307 hitting percentage and were led by 13 kills apiece by Karin Palgutova and Aleksandr Wachowicz. Palgutova registered a double-double with 16 digs and Deniz Mutlugil contributed a match-high 39 assists for the Red Storm. For Army, freshman Amber Clay had 14 kills to lead the squad and classmate Carolyn Bockrath added 12 of the team’s 46. Nicole Perri chipped in a team-high nine digs.
St. John’s came out of the gate with six of the first eight points to claim the lead in the first set. Army trimmed the deficit to 7-5 with three of the following four points, including kills by Clay and Perri. From that point, St. John’s distanced itself with a 9-1 run that extended the advantage to 16-6 and eventually won the set by a 25-12 score. Clay contributed three kills to lead Army offensively in the opening set.
A kill by Bockrath off an assist by junior co-captain Vanessa Edwards (35 assists) opened the scoring in set two for Army prior to the two sides trading points and coming together at 5-5. St. John’s broke the tie on a point credited to Palgutova, before a run of six consecutive Army tallies. Back-to-back rejections at the net by Edwards and Bockrath completed the stretch as Army led 11-6.
The Red Storm, picked to finish fifth in the BIG EAST’s annual preseason poll, cut Army’s advantage to three with four of the next six points (13-10), before Army ripped off five straight to go ahead 18-10 in the second set. The Black Knights maintained the lead and cruised to a 25-16 win, leveling the score at 1-1. Army secured a quick 3-2 edge in the third set, but St. John’s reeled off 12 points in a row to take a commanding 14-3 lead. Army was unable to slice the deficit to single digits and St. John’s took a 2-1 lead with a 25-10 triumph.
Trailing 2-1, Army came out in the fourth set with seven of the first 10 points, punctuated by Kristen Smeland’s service ace. St. John’s worked its way back into the set, which proved to be the closest of the match and featured ties at 13-13, 14-14 and 15-15. Kills by Clay and Perri prompted a St. John’s timeout with Army up 17-15 and after the stoppage Army went up 18-15 on Bockrath’s tally. The Red Storm clawed back into the set and forced ties at 22-22 and 23-23 before finally taking the lead on a kill by Yaidy Santiago at 24-23 as Army called timeout. St. John’s scored the final three points to seal the match with a 25-23 win.
Army returns to the court Friday evening at 7 p.m. when it faces tournament-host Bryant. The Bulldogs opened the event with a 3-1 victory over UMass Lowell, winning 25-22, 25-19, 23-25, 25-23. Click here for a full tournament schedule.
