Volleyball Closes Regular Season on the Road

WEST POINT, N.Y. – The Army West Point volleyball team looks to close out the regular season on a high-note while on the road for its final two conference games. The Black Knights will travel to Bucknell (Nov. 13) and Lehigh (Nov. 14) this Friday and Saturday.

"We continue to focus on bettering our game," said head coach Alma Kovaci. "It is the end of the season and nothing is too little to overlook when you strive to win a championship. Our team is connected, and we feel good on how we have handled pressure thus far. Our goal will be to control our serve and pass game, do the little things right and the game will take care of itself. I know we are humble, hungry and want more than anything to finish our successful regular season on a high note."

Army enters the weekend with 20 wins under its belt for the first time since the 2012 season after sweeping service academy rival Navy and Lafayette. The Black Knights reside at 20-7 overall and 12-2 in the Patriot League, and have clinched the number two seed in the conference tournament which will be held at American Nov. 21-22.

Against service academy rival Navy, Olivia Fairfield led the Black Knights with 11 kills on 29 attempts. Carolyn Bockrath recorded 10 kills and was followed by Vanessa Wesley who had eight. Vanessa Edwards had 36 assists and 11 digs for Army, while Shannel Chong recorded 16 digs.

Opposite the Leopards, Victoria Reyer recorded a career-high six service aces. She was on the serve that ignited a 10-0 run to clinch the match.

The Black Knights held an advantage in every statistical category over Lafayette. The Cadets led in points, 60-27, kills, 49-22, aces, 8-3, blocks, 3-2, assists, 47-20, and digs, 52-35.

In conference statistics, Bockrath and Wesley continue to reside at the No. 1 and No. 2 spots for hitting percentage. Bockrath is first with a percentage of .416, while Wesley falls just behind at .410. The next closest percentage is .351 by Monika Smidova from American.

Edwards continues to lead the league in assists, and is the only setter to have a double-digit assist per set percentage. She totals 1,074 on the season and averages 10.85 per set. Chong ranks atop the liberos with 4.56 digs per set this season.

"Bucknell and Lehigh are tough teams to play, especially on the road," added Kovaci. "They all have top hitters that are amongst Patriot League leaders in kills per game and hitting percentage. Combine hitters of that caliber with experienced and senior setters and you have a great offense."

The Bison have a 12-12 overall record this season and are 6-8 in the conference. Bucknell went 1-1 last weekend with a 3-0 win over Loyola and a 3-1 loss to Lehigh.

Karen Campbell leads the Bison with 257 kills to average 2.95 per set. She has a hitting percentage of .341 and averages 1.11 blocks per set to lead the team. Meghan Wentzel paces the offense with 9.20 assists per set and 800 assists this season.

Lehigh enters the weekend at 17-12 overall and 9-5 in the league. The Mountain Hawks defeated the Bison last weekend, 3-0, and fell 3-0 to American.

Lehigh leads the conference in services aces per set with an average of 1.64. Leah Turner tops the Mountain Hawks offensively with 3.58 kills per set and 4.02 points per set. Ana Vrhel leads the team in blocks with 1.11 per set and 109.0 total.

Earlier this season, Army swept both the Bison and Mountain Hawks in straight-sets. Wesley led the Black Knights in kills and blocks in each of the prior meetings. She tallied 13 kills against the Mountain Hawks to average 4.33 per set, and also added two solo and one assisted block.

Opposite the Bison, Wesley recorded 14 kills, seven of which came in the first set. Her hitting percentage was .500 with only three errors.

Amber Clay recorded a career-high 24 digs versus Bucknell to lead the team defensively, while adding six kills. Nicole Perri added 18 kills on the weekend and four blocks.

For up-to-date information about Army volleyball, please follow @ArmyWP_VB on Twitter and Instagram.

How to Follow vs. Bucknell
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How to Follow vs. Lehigh
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Volleyball Closes Regular Season on the Road

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Players Mentioned

Carolyn Bockrath

Shannel Chong

Amber Clay

Vanessa Edwards

Olivia Fairfield

Nicole Perri

Victoria Reyer

Vanessa Wesley

Army West Point Athletics