Army West Point Athletics
Army West Point
5-10,1-2PL
Lehigh
8-7, 3-0PL
| Team | 1 | 2 | 3 | Final F |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Army | 21 | 21 | 28 | 0 |
| Lehigh | 25 | 25 | 30 | 3 |
Volleyball Splits Weekend Action with Loss at Lehigh
September 20, 2014 | Volleyball
Lehigh improved to 3-0 in Patriot League matches and 8-7 on the season while Army dropped to 5-10 and 1-2 in the conference.
"Once again we started slow in the first two games," head coach Alma Kovaci said. "Lehigh is a solid team and we played very well in the last game. Amber Clay was phenomenal and Vanessa Edwards played also played well. We played the entire match with four freshman on the court at all times and experience ultimately won out."
Lehigh took the lead at 10-9 in the initial set and expanded the lead to three with a kill by Morgan Lowe and an Army miscue. The Mountain Hawks maintained their three-point cushion for much of the remainder of the set, prior to taking a four-point advantage at 22-18 on a kill by Stephanie Slater. The two alternated points and Lehigh took the first game 25-21. Nicole Perri converted five kills to pace the Army offense in the frame.
Facing a familiar 1-0 hole after the first set, a deficit Army came back from in Friday night's victory at Bucknell, the Black Knights responded again in the second set. Lehigh built a 13-10 lead on a point by Lowe, but Army scored four straight points for its first lead since 3-2. Kills by freshmen Vanessa Wesley and Carolyn Bockrath helped Army secure the 14-13 edge. Moments later with the score tied at 16 apiece, Army scored three of next four points, including two kills by rookie Amber Clay. Lehigh responded by scoring five in-a-row and helped itself to a 22-19 lead en route to winning the second set 25-21.
The Mountain Hawks raced out to a 5-1 lead in the third set, but Army came back to score five consecutive points to go ahead 6-5. From there, Lehigh put together an 8-2 spurt that allowed them to go up 13-8. Kills by Perri and Clay drew Army within three as the Black Knights slowly clawed back into the set and took an 18-16 lead with another 5-0 run. The score was tied at 18, 19, 20, and 21 all before a Lehigh ace put them up one and Army called timeout. Another Lehigh point put them two shy from winning the set, but Army scored three straight, two by Clay, to go up 24-23. Slater tied the score at 24, Clay and Taylor Carroll traded points and the set was tied again at 25-25. Neither side was able to break away until Lehigh scored to go up 29-28 and benefitted from a controversial call on set point to win 30-28.
Perri had 15 kills to lead Army offensively, while Clay contributed 14. The offense ran through setter Vanessa Edwards, who had a team-high 40 assists and added 12 digs for her fifth double-double of the year and second of the weekend. Freshman Megan Bryn was credited with eight digs in the losing effort.
Army returns to the court next Saturday, Sept. 27 when the team hosts Colgate at Gillis Field House. First serve is schedule for 5 p.m. and will be streamed online on Knight Vision.
