Army West Point Athletics
Army West Point
3-8, 0-1Patriot
Holy Cross
1-1, 1-0Patriot
Volleyball Drops Patriot League Debut to Holy Cross
September 13, 2014 | Volleyball
Sept. 13, 2014
WEST POINT, N.Y. - The Army volleyball team dropped its Patriot League and Black Knights Invitational opener to Holy Cross by a 3-1 final. The Crusaders won the match with set scores of 25-22, 25-19, 21-25 and 25-18.
The victory for the Crusaders improved them to 1-7 on the season and 1-0 in Patriot League play, while Army dipped to 3-8 overall and 0-1 in the conference.
Holy Cross scored six of the opening nine points to secure a 6-3 lead in the first set. Army got back into the game with four straight points, capped by Carolyn Bockrath’s kill and a Holy Cross miscue. Neither side led by more than two points and the score was knotted at 21-21 on a spike by Olivia Fairfield. Two straight Army errors allowed the Crusaders to go up 23-21 and forced Army to call timeout. From there, Amber Clay scored on a set by Vanessa Edwards, but Holy Cross scored the final two points to win set one 25-22.
Army bounced back early in the second set with a 5-1 stretch to open the period. Holy Cross called a timeout and battled back to tie the score, and then took a one-point lead at 8-7 with a 7-2 run of its own. With the set tied at 13 apiece, Holy Cross took advantage of two Army mistakes and went ahead by two. Army interrupted Holy Cross’ 5-1 spurt on a Holy Cross service error, but trailed 18-14 at that point. Holy Cross did not relinquish its cushion and went on to take a 2-0 lead in the match with a 25-19 victory.
Facing a 2-0 deficit, Army responded with a 25-21 triumph in the third set. With the game tied at 13-13, kills by Jaden Pickell and Bockrath put the Black Knights in front by two. Army never gave up the lead, despite Holy Cross tying the score at 18-18, en route to a 25-21 win.
Holy Cross distanced itself in the decisive fourth set with a 9-2 run that broke a 16-16 deadlock. The victory for the Crusaders snapped a 16-match losing streak to Army. Clay and Perri each posted double-digit kills with 11 and 10, respectively. Megan Bryn and Deanna Dalton contributed 12 kills apiece, while Edwards totaled 10. Edwards recorded a double-double with 43 assists. Bockrath finished the match with nine kills and a team-high .421 hitting percentage.
For Holy Cross, Mandy Sifferlen paced the attack with 16 kills, Katie McKernan had 33 assists and Emily Popp contributed 18 digs.
Army continues tournament play Saturday evening when the team hosts Binghamton at 7 p.m.
