Army West Point Athletics
Army West Point
1-1
Bryant
1-1
| Team | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Final F |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Army | 19 | 25 | 25 | 26 | 3 |
| Bryant | 25 | 14 | 19 | 24 | 1 |
Volleyball Knocks Off Tournament Host
August 29, 2014 | Volleyball
SMITHFIELD, R.I. - After dropping the first set, the Army volleyball team responded by winning the next three sets against Bryant in the second game of the Hampton Inn-vitational for both teams at Chace Athletic Center. The Bulldogs earned a win to open the match 25-19, before Army won 25-14, 25-19 and 26-24 to seal the victory.
With the result, both teams moved to 1-1 on the season. Army fell in its opening match to St. John's, while Bryant topped UMass Lowell earlier in the day.
"I thought our ball control was better tonight and we were able to serve tougher and dig a bit better," head coach Alma Kovaci said. "I am proud of the team for beating a tough Bryant team at home. We are getting better and that is all that matters during these first games of the season. Tonight was a total team effort."
Vanessa Edwards posted her 14th career double-double with 40 assists and 11 digs, while three players registered 10 kills apiece. Carolyn Bockrath and Amber Clay each reached double-digit kills for the second straight game, while sophomore Olivia Fairfield also added 10 of her own and led the squad with a .381 hitting percentage. Freshman Jaden Pickell chipped in 11 digs in the victory.
For Bryant offensively, Elena Lohr had a game-high 15 kills and Vika Nesterov handed out 34 assists. The Bulldogs received strong defensive efforts from Debora Magalhaes (20 digs) and Carissa Gould (12 digs).
Like in Army's previous match against St. John's, the Black Knights got off to a slow start in the opening set. Bryant became frontrunners with the first five points of the match and held a 7-1 lead in the early going. The hole was too deep to overcome as Bryant led by at least four points through the end of the set, which it eventually won 25-19.
Facing a 1-0 deficit in the match, Army scored the first two points of the second set and jumped ahead to an 8-3 lead to set the tone for the remainder of the night. Three service aces helped the cause, two by Edwards and another by Kristen Smeland, as Army established a five-point cushion. The two sides alternated points until it was 10-6 in favor of the visiting Black Knights before they started to pull away. Nine out of the next 12 points went Army's way, including a pair of kills by freshman Vanessa Wesley.
With the score knotted at 1-1, Army continued to ride its positive momentum in the third set and produced a 25-19 win that gave it a 2-1 match edge. Bockrath had four kills, Pickell added two and four digs as Army took advantage of 11 Bryant errors.
The final set could have gone to either team, but it was Army that outlasted the Bulldogs and came up with the critical kills down the stretch. Bryant grabbed a 15-11 advantage before Army tied the set at 16-16 on an ace by freshman Megan Bryn. Dropping five of the previous six points prompted Bryant to call timeout and it came out of the break with three consecutive scores. Army battled back and tied the score at 21 before going ahead 24-22. Two miscues allowed Bryant to tie it up at 24 apiece, but Army answered with kills by Clay and Pickell to close the match.
Army resumes play at the Hampton Inn-vitational on Saturday when it plays Towson at 10 a.m. and UMass Lowell at 4 p.m.
