Volleyball Suffers Setback to Cal

Friday, September 11

Arlington, VA

6:30 PM

Army West Point

California

Army

Volleyball Suffers Setback to Cal

September 11, 2015 | Volleyball

Box Score

WASHINGTON, D.C. – The Army West Point volleyball team fell to California-Berkley, 3-1, Friday night at the Pentagon Athletic Center. The Black Knights claimed the first set 25-21, but the Bears came back to take the next three 25-18, 25-14 and 25 19.

"We had a really great showing against Cal," said head coach Alma Kovaci. "We did great things out there, but couldn't keep the momentum going for long periods of time. Cal is a very good team and they were physical, but we were able to stick with them. We controlled the ball well and our passing game was improving, and that shows how great our offense can be. We are looking forward to tomorrow's game at Fort Myer."

In set one, Nicole Perri and Carolyn Bockrath scored back-to-back points for Army to tie the score at 8-8. Victoria Reyer notched a kill to bring the Black Knights within three at 13-10. Bockrath then added a kill after a Bears conversion to make the score 14-12.

Jaden Pickell and Vanessa Wesley helped chip away at Cal's lead when they joined for a blocking point. Reyer recorded an ace right before Wesley had a kill off a serve return to bring the score within one at 17-16.

When the score was 19-18 in favor of Cal, Avery Alexander came in the match to hit a service ace. With her on the serve, Bockrath and Pickell had a successful block before Perri notched another kill to take a 21-19 lead. Reyer scored to bring the score to 24-21, then Pickell and Wesley clinched the match with a block to gain Army's 25th point.

In the second set, the Black Knights were able to go on a 6-1 run to start a comeback, but Cal came out on top. Perri tallied a kill, followed by one down the middle by Bockrath. After a Cal timeout, The Black Knights scored three more points before the Bears clinched the set 25-18. Cal won sets three and four by scores of 25-14 and 25-19, respectively.

Cal improves to 5-3 on the season after defeating Harvard, 3-2, and Army, 3-1, Friday. The Black Knights are back in action against Harvard at Fort Myer Saturday at 1 p.m.

There will be no live stats or video for any match and, due to security restrictions at the Pentagon and Fort Myer, all spectators have already been selected and screened.

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