Volleyball Set for Seawolves Invite

WEST POINT, N.Y. – In its final tournament of the season, the Army West Point volleyball team will travel to Stony Brook, N.Y., for the Seawolves Invitational Sept. 18-19. The Black Knights will face Rhode Island, Columbia and host Stony Brook at Pritchard Gymnasium Friday and Saturday.

"The tournament will be very competitive," said head coach Alma Kovaci. "All teams are very strong and are in our region. We look forward to getting back on the court and playing better as a team. Our goal has been, and continues to be, to get 1% better every time we practice and compete."

Last weekend, the Black Knights competed at the Service Academy Challenge where they won two games in five sets and lost one in four. Army defeated service academy rival Air Force 3-2 and earned a 3-2 victory over Harvard, and California-Berkley topped the Cadets 3-1.

Nicole Perri was a force against the Falcons with 20 kills, while Carolyn Bockrath and Victoria Reyer contributed with double-digit kills. Shannel Chong continues to be steady in the back court with 19 digs in the win.

For the season, Bockrath leads the Cadets offensively averaging 3.0 kills per set and totals 3.65 points per set. She has tallied 120 kills to rank first on the team and is followed by Jaden Pickell (99), Perri (82) and Vanessa Wesley (82). Vanessa Edwards leads the Patriot League in the assists category with a tally of 9.87 per set. Chong ranks No. 1 for the conference in digs per set with 4.26.

Army opens up the weekend with a match against Rhode Island on Friday Sept. 18 at 4:30 p.m. The Rams enter the match with a 6-3 mark. Last weekend, Rhode Island participated in the Art Carmichael Invitational where the team went 3-0 with wins over Canisius, 3-0, Lehigh, 3-2, and Sacred Heart, 3-1.

Franki Darnold leads the Rams with 118 kills on 282 attempts for a .230 hitting percentage. Callan Kinnan paces the offense with 8.89 assists per set, while Marie Gillcrest leads the team in total blocks with 32. Rhode Island leads 4-1 in the all-time series against Army.

The Black Knights will face Columbia (9 a.m.) and Stony Brook (1 p.m.) on Saturday, Sept. 19.

Columbia enters play this weekend at 2-4 on the year following a home invitational in which the Lions went 2-1. Columbia defeated Northeastern and NJIT before the Lions fell to American. The Black Knights hold a 10-4 advantage in the all-time series over the Lions.

Zoe Jacobs has tallied a team-leading 3.15 kills/set for the Lions, while Katarina Jovicic leads Columbia with an even .400 hitting percentage. Alex Reale leads the team with 9.60 assists/set, while Cassie Wes has a team-leading 3.86 digs/set.

The Sea Wolves enter the weekend with a record of 2-10 with wins over Buffalo, 3-1, and Holy Cross, 3-1. Army and Stony Brook are tied 3-3 in the all-time series that began in 1979.

Stephanie McFadden enters the weekend fifth nationally in aces per set with 0.67. Kathy Fletcher leads the team in kills with 146 on 473 attempts and McKyla Brooks follows with 124 for a .289 hitting percentage. Morgan Kath paces the offense with 8.56 assists per set. Defensively, Brooks totals 22 blocks on the season and Nicole Vogel averages 2.84 digs per set.

"We look forward to playing hard this weekend and finishing our last tournament on a high note," Kovaci added. "We feel we are a much improved team from last season, and are really excited to open Patriot League contests at home with Holy Cross on Tuesday."

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

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Volleyball Set for Seawolves Invite

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Players Mentioned

Carolyn Bockrath

Shannel Chong

Vanessa Edwards

Nicole Perri

Jaden Pickell

Victoria Reyer

Vanessa Wesley

Army West Point Athletics