Volleyball Clinches Dartmouth Tournament Title

Saturday, September 10

Hanover, NH

3:30 PM

Army West Point

6-4

Niagara

1-9

Niagara

Army

Volleyball Clinches Dartmouth Tournament Title

September 10, 2016 | Volleyball

Box Score

HANOVER, N.H. – After four-straight sweeps this weekend, the Army West Point volleyball team was named the Dartmouth Tournament Champions. The Black Knights completed their streak with a 3-0 victory over Niagara Saturday evening. Allie Strong was named the Tournament MVP and was joined by Vanessa Wesley on the All-Tournament Squad.

ARMY HIGHLIGHTS AND MATCH NOTES

Today's wins puts Army (6-4) on a 5-0 streak with all matches being decided in three-straight sets.
The Black Knights held an advantage in every statistical category over the Purple Eagles. The Cadets (1-9) led in points (52-28), kills (38-22), aces (7-3), blocks (7-3), assists (33-21) and digs (42-40).
Wesley led the team with 10 kills and a .563 hitting percentage. Amber Clay and Sydney Morriss had eight kills apiece while Strong tallied seven. Haven Bethune continued as setter for Army and dished out 26 assists and added a match-high three service aces. She had her second double-double of the day as she added a team-high 10 digs.
In blocking, Olivia Fairfield made the difference for the Cadets with five with Morriss adding three.

HOW IT HAPPENED

Army led for almost the entirety of the match and only allowed Niagara to lead four times in the three sets.
In set one, the Black Knights led 13-9 then charged ahead on an 8-1 run to more than double the score at 21-10. The Purple Eagles attempted to chip away at the Cadets' lead, but Army pulled away to clinch the set 25-16.
Set two was a battle at the beginning as Niagara led three times and the set was tied on five occasions before the Black Knights got into their groove. Army had a 6-4 run in the end to win the set 25-18.
The Cadets ran away from the Purple Eagles in the third set and never gave up their lead en route to victory and the tournament title. Army jumped ahead 11-3 before Niagara was able to gain any momentum in the set. A four point rally by the Black Knights pushed them ahead 22-11 before they were able to pull away with three of the final four points of the match to win.

COACHES CORNER

"The entire coaching staff is so proud of the improvement our team is making each and every day," said head coach Alma Kovaci. "The team is starting to gel in a really nice way."
"We are so excited with the play of our freshmen class. Haven is doing such a great job running the offense and Sydney is hitting so effectively, not only in one match, but all of them. Allie has continued to be a stud in our six rotation."
"To win four matches in three sets in not easy to do but our team remained focused and was up for the task. I am so proud of them."

ALL-TOURNAMENT TEAM

Allie Strong (Army) - MVP
Vanessa Wesley (Army)
Madelyn Kaprelyan (CCSU)
Katy Henchy (Hartford)
Emily Astarita (Dartmouth)
Julia Lau (Dartmouth)

UP NEXT

The Cadets have a cross-town match at Marist Tuesday before Army returns to Gillis Field House Sept. 16-17 for the West Point Invitational. The Black Knights will host Albany, UConn, St. John's and Delaware State.

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