Army West Point Athletics
Friday, October 16
West Point, NY
7 PM
Army West Point
vs
Lehigh
Volleyball Readies for Lehigh, Bucknell
October 15, 2015 | Volleyball
WEST POINT, N.Y. – The Army West Point volleyball continues its five-match homestand at Gillis Field House Friday and Saturday when the Black Knights host two conference matches. The Black Knights will face Lehigh (Oct. 16) and Bucknell (Oct. 17). Army will take on the Mountain Hawks at 7 p.m., while the match opposite the Bison will begin at 6 p.m.
"We have been working very hard in practice with our passing defense and our blocking which will be our key skills for this weekend," said head coach Alma Kovaci. "Lehigh is a very good and efficient team. They have some key hitters with their outsides and their middles. It is going to be important for us to make sure that we can block and defend them very well. It starts with our serving, so we need to be more aggressive with our serves."
Army boasts a 13-6 overall record and a 5-1 mark in the Patriot League after going 2-0 last week with conference wins over Lafayette (3-0) and service academy rival Navy (3-2). The volleyball team earned Army's first Star of the 2015 season and the Black Knights now lead the Star Series 1-0-1.
"We are definitely improving and that has been our goal," explained Kovaci. "Every time we step on the court we want to get better, that is still our goal. I see that we are getting more confident, more aggressive on the court and more comfortable with each other. It is good to see that happening in the first half of conference play. We still have a lot of work to do, but I am happy where we are right now. I think finishing on a high note this weekend will set us up for the rest of the Patriot League play."
Senior setter Vanessa Edwards eclipsed the 2,000 career assist milestone in the Star Match victory over the Midshipmen. She joins just six others in program history who bear that distinction and ranks seventh in the Army record books with 2,007 total assists.
Edwards leads the conference with 10.17 assists per set and ranks ninth in digs per set with 3.25 after earning two double-double performances last weekend amassing 81 assists and 29 digs.
"Vanessa Wesley works really hard in practice," said Kovaci. "She motivates her team, works really hard and has been learning more about the game. I am very proud of her work ethic so far."
Sophomore Middle Blocker Vanessa Wesley had a career-high performance versus Navy and led the team with 17 kills, while also recording three blocks.
The Mountain Hawks are 11-9 overall and 4-2 in the league with wins over Colgate, Bucknell, Navy and Loyola.
Lehigh leads the conference in assists per set with 12.51, and kills per set with 13.53. Leah Turner ranks second in the Patriot League in kills per set with an average of 3.57. With an average of 0.43, Ana Vrhel ranks No. 2 in the conference in aces per set.
Army leads 34-15 in the all-time series with Lehigh that began in 1985.
The Bison enters the weekend with a 9-8 overall record and a 3-4 mark in the league. Army leads 32-13 in the all-time series with Bucknell that began in 1988.
Karen Campbell falls just below Carolyn Bockrath and Wesley in the conference standings for hitting percentage with a .363 average. She ranks second in the league with 1.25 blocks per set.
For up-to-date information about Army volleyball, please follow @ArmyWP_VB on Twitter and Instagram.
HOW TO FOLLOW:
Livestats: http://bit.ly/VBlivestats2015
Live video: http://bit.ly/PLNetwork
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"We have been working very hard in practice with our passing defense and our blocking which will be our key skills for this weekend," said head coach Alma Kovaci. "Lehigh is a very good and efficient team. They have some key hitters with their outsides and their middles. It is going to be important for us to make sure that we can block and defend them very well. It starts with our serving, so we need to be more aggressive with our serves."
Army boasts a 13-6 overall record and a 5-1 mark in the Patriot League after going 2-0 last week with conference wins over Lafayette (3-0) and service academy rival Navy (3-2). The volleyball team earned Army's first Star of the 2015 season and the Black Knights now lead the Star Series 1-0-1.
"We are definitely improving and that has been our goal," explained Kovaci. "Every time we step on the court we want to get better, that is still our goal. I see that we are getting more confident, more aggressive on the court and more comfortable with each other. It is good to see that happening in the first half of conference play. We still have a lot of work to do, but I am happy where we are right now. I think finishing on a high note this weekend will set us up for the rest of the Patriot League play."
Senior setter Vanessa Edwards eclipsed the 2,000 career assist milestone in the Star Match victory over the Midshipmen. She joins just six others in program history who bear that distinction and ranks seventh in the Army record books with 2,007 total assists.
Edwards leads the conference with 10.17 assists per set and ranks ninth in digs per set with 3.25 after earning two double-double performances last weekend amassing 81 assists and 29 digs.
"Vanessa Wesley works really hard in practice," said Kovaci. "She motivates her team, works really hard and has been learning more about the game. I am very proud of her work ethic so far."
Sophomore Middle Blocker Vanessa Wesley had a career-high performance versus Navy and led the team with 17 kills, while also recording three blocks.
The Mountain Hawks are 11-9 overall and 4-2 in the league with wins over Colgate, Bucknell, Navy and Loyola.
Lehigh leads the conference in assists per set with 12.51, and kills per set with 13.53. Leah Turner ranks second in the Patriot League in kills per set with an average of 3.57. With an average of 0.43, Ana Vrhel ranks No. 2 in the conference in aces per set.
Army leads 34-15 in the all-time series with Lehigh that began in 1985.
The Bison enters the weekend with a 9-8 overall record and a 3-4 mark in the league. Army leads 32-13 in the all-time series with Bucknell that began in 1988.
Karen Campbell falls just below Carolyn Bockrath and Wesley in the conference standings for hitting percentage with a .363 average. She ranks second in the league with 1.25 blocks per set.
For up-to-date information about Army volleyball, please follow @ArmyWP_VB on Twitter and Instagram.
HOW TO FOLLOW:
Livestats: http://bit.ly/VBlivestats2015
Live video: http://bit.ly/PLNetwork
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Players Mentioned
Middle Blocker
/ Volleyball
Setter
/ Volleyball
Middle Blocker/Right Side Hitter
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