Volleyball Suffers Setback to American

Saturday, October 31

West Point, NY

5 PM

Army West Point

18-7, 10-2PL

American

22-6, 13-0PL

American

Army

Volleyball Suffers Setback to American

October 31, 2015 | Volleyball

Box Score

WEST POINT, N.Y. – The Army West Point volleyball team suffered its first loss in over a month to American Saturday evening, 3-1. The Black Knights fell in four sets by scores of 29-27, 25-22, 21-25, 25-21 in Gillis Field House.

"I am very proud of the way we played them today," said head coach Alma Kovaci. "We improved so much from earlier this season when we first played them. American is a tough team that is very experienced. I thought we played them well. It was a game of momentum and there were times we did well and other times we let things go. We are a young team that is still learning. We are learning to follow directions and play tough all the time and not just moments. Once we get it all together, we will be unstoppable."

Amber Clay led the Cadets' offense with 16 kills and 17 digs, her third double-double of the season. Olivia Fairfield added 13 kills and three service aces, while Vanessa Wesley had 11 kills and two block assists, and Shannel Chong recorded 25 digs.

Nicole Perri added 11 kills and nine digs, Rachel Gearon recorded eight kills off the bench and Carolyn Bockrath tallied five kills and a block in the match. Vanessa Edwards tied her career-high with 60 assists in the match and also added 11 digs and an ace. Edwards now totals 1,001 assists this season.

"Rachel and Olivia played great volleyball today," said Kovaci. "It is always great to have players that can come off the bench and make a difference right away. Shannel stepped up and dug balls at times with almost no blocks. I thought we improved as the game went on and we are still looking to improve as the season continues. We are looking forward to facing next week's opponents."

American jumped out to an 8-5 lead in set one, but the Black Knights went on an 8-5 run to take a 13-10 lead. Army and the Eagles jockeyed for the lead throughout the set with there being 13 ties throughout and four lead changes. With the score at 22-21 in favor of American, the Cadets had the chance to take it. The Eagles recorded an attacking error before Wesley and Fairfield earned a block.

American had a kill, but after an Army timeout, Fairfield notched a kill to increase the Black Knights' lead to 24-23. American recorded the next two points before Wesley recorded a kill to keep Army in the set. After some more back-and-forth the Cadets tied the set at 27-all, but the Eagles pulled away to take the set 29-27.

In set two, The Black Knights were trailing 20-16, but a block by Wesley and Perri gave them some momentum to climb their way back into the set. Clay earned a kill before American tallied one of their own. Fairfield recorded a kill from Edwards, but the Eagles were able to convert two points to improve their lead to 23-19.

Clay had a kill which was followed by a service ace by Fairfield to bring the set within two. American tallied two kills to win 25-22 after Gearon had one of her own.

Army came out of the break with a renewed momentum. The Black Knights led the entire set and would eventually clinch the point. The Cadets led 20-17 before Wesley and Gearon had kills that bookended an American one.

The Eagles then recorded an attacking error and two kills to bring the score to 23-20, still in favor of Army. Gearon added another point off an assist by Edwards and then Perri closed out the set 25-21 with a tip over the net.

In the final set, American secured a 23-15 lead, before Army found some momentum to get back into the set. Wesley and Clay tallied kills in the stretch to the end of the set. The Black Knights received help on errors by American, but the Eagles were able to stick it out and win the match with a fourth set score of 25-21.

Army and American were very evenly matched with the Black Knights having the edge in most statistical categories. The Cadets and Eagles both tallied 78.0 points and each had seven aces, but Army had an advantage in kills (65-59), assists (63-58) and digs (73-70).

The Black Knights dropped to 18-7 overall and 10-2 in the Patriot League, with its only two losses coming from American.

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