Army Wins Thriller over Navy

Saturday, November 5

West Point, NY

7 PM

Army West Point

18-10, 10-4PL

Navy

18-8, 8-6PL

Navy

Army

Army Wins Thriller over Navy

November 05, 2016 | Volleyball

Box Score

WEST POINT, N.Y. – The Army West Point volleyball team topped service academy rival Navy Saturday night in a five set thriller. The Black Knights and Midshipmen traded sets throughout the night, but a 5-0 run by the Cadets sealed the victory in the tiebreaker.

"We as coaches are so incredibly proud of our team's performance this weekend," said head coach Alma Kovaci Lee. "They dug deep and practiced really tough leading into it. It is so great to see the freshmen grow into nice players and the upper classmen starting to lead the team well. Navy is a team that is great defensively and on the transition so I am proud of our team's relentless effort. Our team has been playing better and and I know they are on a mission."

ARMY HIGHLIGHTS AND MATCH NOTES

Army improved to 18-10 overall and 10-4 in the Patriot League with tonight's win.
The Black Knights were led by a 55-assist performance by freshman Haven Bethune. She also notched 13 digs to record a double-double.
Allie Strong also recorded a double-double off 13 kills and 22 digs. Carolyn Bockrath led the team with 16 kills and a .452 hitting percentage.
Amber Clay tallied nine digs in the match and six kills, while Vanessa Wesley had 11 kills and three blocks.
Olivia Fairfield recorded 11 points and Shannel Chong had 15 digs.

HOW IT HAPPENED

The Black Knights came out to a strong start and forced an early timeout call by Navy with a 9-2 lead. Army continued its hot streak to a 13-6 advantage before the Midshipmen could pick up steam.
Navy tied things up at 17-all with back-to-back blocks on an 11-4 run, but Army went on an 8-3 run to finish the set with Morriss tallying three-straight kills before Bockrath and Strong closed-out the set for Army 25-20.
The Black Knights jumped ahead 15-12 in the second set as the first media timeout was called. The Mids fought back to tie things up at 17-17 again, but a kill from Fairfield and then Wesley gave Army a two-point lead.
Navy came back with a 22-20 lead, but three kills by Strong kept Army in the set. The Midshipmen would go on to score the final two points to claim the set 25-23 and even up the match at 1-1.
In set three, the Black Knights went ahead 12-7 to force a Navy timeout. The Cadets controlled the set with a 13-5 run to increase their lead to 18-10 with Wesley and Strong leading the offense.
Army won the set 25-17 with Bockrath and Wesley with the Black Knights' final two points.
The Black Knights trailed for most of the fourth set, but tied things up at 16-16 with a big kill by Wesley and an attacking error by the Mids. The teams traded points from that point on to find the match tied at 22-all, but Navy moved forward to win the set 25-22 which forced the fifth set tie breaker.
Navy jumped out first in the fifth, but four consecutive points for Army pushed them up 10-6.
The Cadets went on a 5-3 run to close out the match with a 3-2 victory over the rivals.

UP NEXT

Army will closeout the regular season at Gillis Field House next weekend when Lehigh and Bucknell come to the banks of the Hudson. Friday night's match will be at 7 p.m. against the Mountain Hawks, while Saturday's contest against the Bison will be held at 4 p.m. as the team honors Firstie captain Olivia Fairfield for Senior Day.