Army West Point Athletics

Volleyball Sweeps Lehigh in PL Semifinals
November 21, 2015 | Volleyball
WASHINGTON, D.C. - The second-seeded Army West Point volleyball team swept No. 3 Lehigh Saturday evening by set scores of 25-21, 25-16 and 25-17. The Black Knights advance to the Patriot League Tournament finals that will be on Sunday at 1 p.m. against No. 1 American. Army improved to 21-9 with tonight's postseason win.
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"We are so proud of the team," said head coach Alma Kovaci. "They handled pressure well and we served and passed at a very high level. The coaching staff did an incredible job making adjustments as the game went on. I thought Vanessa Edwards did a great job running the offense and our defense worked extremely hard. We are excited for the opportunity to play in the finals tomorrow against a tough American team, but I know we are up for the challenge."
Nicole Perri led the Army offense with 14 kills and two blocks. Carolyn Bockrath tallied 10 kills and zero errors for a hitting percentage of .769. Vanessa Wesley (8 kills), Olivia Fairfield (7) and Amber Clay (6) also contributed to the Black Knights' offense. Vanessa Edwards dished out a match-high 39 assists and added nine digs. Defensively, Clay recorded 11 digs, while Ellie Petersen had nine.
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Army clinched set one to take an 1-0 lead in the match. The Black Knights took a timeout with an 18-14 lead over the Mountain Hawks. Lehigh recorded an attacking error then scored two straight points to push the score to 20-16, still in favor of Army. The Cadets and Mountain Hawks traded points with Clay notching a kill for Army from Edwards.
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Bockrath and Edwards connected for two-straight points to increase Army's lead to 23-19. Lehigh added a kill and attacking error to set Army up for match point. Bockrath tallied a kill from Edwards on the slide to take the set.
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In set two, Army trailed 7-4 before coming back to tie the set at seven-all. Two attacking errors by Lehigh and a kill by Wesley provided the Black Knights a 3-0 run. Â
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With the set tied 11-11, the Mountain Hawks took a one-point lead after Army was cited for a bad set. Bockrath then recorded a kill to re-tie the match at 12-all. The Black Knights then went on an 11-2 run to take a 24-14 lead.
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Perri notched a kill that was assisted by Shannel Chong to kick-off the run. She then joined with Bockrath to earn a block. Perri scored four more times in the run along with two from Wesley. Lehigh had two kills, while Army was set up for match point, but a kill from Perri sealed the set score at 25-16.
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The Black Knights jumped out to a 15-10 lead in the third set. Army then went on a 5-2 run with the Mountain Hawks to increase its lead to 20-12. The Cadets earned points off of three attacking errors and kills by Clay and Perri.
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Wesley and Edwards connected to breach the 20-point mark and an attacking error along with a kill from Perri put Army head 23-15. Fairfield notched a kill from Edwards which set the Black Knights up for match point, and forced the Mountain Hawks to call a timeout. The Black Knights clinched the match on a service error by Lehigh.
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No. 2 Army will face No. 1 American tomorrow for the Patriot League finals at 1 p.m. Army last won the championship in 2009 when it defeated the Eagles 3-0.
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For up-to-date information about Army volleyball, please follow @ArmyWP_VB on Twitter and Instagram.
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"We are so proud of the team," said head coach Alma Kovaci. "They handled pressure well and we served and passed at a very high level. The coaching staff did an incredible job making adjustments as the game went on. I thought Vanessa Edwards did a great job running the offense and our defense worked extremely hard. We are excited for the opportunity to play in the finals tomorrow against a tough American team, but I know we are up for the challenge."
Nicole Perri led the Army offense with 14 kills and two blocks. Carolyn Bockrath tallied 10 kills and zero errors for a hitting percentage of .769. Vanessa Wesley (8 kills), Olivia Fairfield (7) and Amber Clay (6) also contributed to the Black Knights' offense. Vanessa Edwards dished out a match-high 39 assists and added nine digs. Defensively, Clay recorded 11 digs, while Ellie Petersen had nine.
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Army clinched set one to take an 1-0 lead in the match. The Black Knights took a timeout with an 18-14 lead over the Mountain Hawks. Lehigh recorded an attacking error then scored two straight points to push the score to 20-16, still in favor of Army. The Cadets and Mountain Hawks traded points with Clay notching a kill for Army from Edwards.
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Bockrath and Edwards connected for two-straight points to increase Army's lead to 23-19. Lehigh added a kill and attacking error to set Army up for match point. Bockrath tallied a kill from Edwards on the slide to take the set.
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In set two, Army trailed 7-4 before coming back to tie the set at seven-all. Two attacking errors by Lehigh and a kill by Wesley provided the Black Knights a 3-0 run. Â
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With the set tied 11-11, the Mountain Hawks took a one-point lead after Army was cited for a bad set. Bockrath then recorded a kill to re-tie the match at 12-all. The Black Knights then went on an 11-2 run to take a 24-14 lead.
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Perri notched a kill that was assisted by Shannel Chong to kick-off the run. She then joined with Bockrath to earn a block. Perri scored four more times in the run along with two from Wesley. Lehigh had two kills, while Army was set up for match point, but a kill from Perri sealed the set score at 25-16.
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The Black Knights jumped out to a 15-10 lead in the third set. Army then went on a 5-2 run with the Mountain Hawks to increase its lead to 20-12. The Cadets earned points off of three attacking errors and kills by Clay and Perri.
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Wesley and Edwards connected to breach the 20-point mark and an attacking error along with a kill from Perri put Army head 23-15. Fairfield notched a kill from Edwards which set the Black Knights up for match point, and forced the Mountain Hawks to call a timeout. The Black Knights clinched the match on a service error by Lehigh.
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No. 2 Army will face No. 1 American tomorrow for the Patriot League finals at 1 p.m. Army last won the championship in 2009 when it defeated the Eagles 3-0.
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For up-to-date information about Army volleyball, please follow @ArmyWP_VB on Twitter and Instagram.
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Players Mentioned
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