Volleyball Downs Lipcomb, Wins 3-1

Friday, September 2

Austin, TX

1:30 PM (ET)

Army West Point

1-3

Lipscomb

3-2

Lipscomb

Army

Volleyball Downs Lipcomb, Wins 3-1

September 02, 2016 | Volleyball

Box Score

AUSTIN, Texas – The Army West Point volleyball team got into an early groove against Lipscomb Friday afternoon from Gregory Gym to clinch the Black Knights' first victory of the 2016 season. The Cadets defeated the Bison 3-1 in their opening match of the American Campus Classic hosted by No. 3 Texas.

ARMY HIGHLIGHTS AND GAME NOTES

Three Black Knights reached double-digit points and kills for Army. Amber Clay, Allie Strong and Vanessa Wesley each tallied 13 kills in the match.
Strong led the Cadets with 18 points off 13 kills and seven total blocks. Wesley recorded a hitting percentage of .684 to lead both sides. She also added six blocks, one solo, for Army. Clay notched 15.5 points in the match and had two service aces.
Olivia Fairfield added seven block assists for Army, while Sydney Morris added four and five kills. Haven Bethune dished out 38 assists and added seven digs.
Defensively, the Black Knights out-blocked the Bison 16.0-2.0. They outscored Lipscomb 72-68 and held a .363-.272 advantage in hitting percentage as a team.

TURNING POINT

Turning point set two – Clay made a hard dig to save the point allowing Wesley to connect with Bethune on the slide for Army to give the Black Knights a 11-10 advantage. Wesley would go on to record three of the Cadets' final five points in the set to secure the tally for Army.

HOW IT HAPPENED

The Black Knights came out strong in the first set and never trailed Lipscomb during the action.
Army led 15-11 at the first media timeout. The Black Knights out-blocked the Bison 5-0 in the first set with blocks coming from Morriss, Fairfield, Wesley and Strong.
The Cadets led 20-15 and clinched the set fueled by double kills by Strong.
The Black Knights trailed 4-2 early in the second set, but sparked back up when Fairfield won a free ball at the net to give Army an 8-7 lead.
Clay made a hard dig to save the point for Army in which gave Wesley and Bethune the opportunity to connect on the slide giving the Black Knights 11-10. Army took advantage of a service ace by the Bison to fuel a 4-0 run. Wesley notched another point off a slide before ace by Bryn and an attack by Bethune increased the Cadets' lead to 15-12.
Wesley was on fire at the end of the second set and had a hand in three-of-five of the Black Knights final points. She recorded three kills before Clay closed-out the set to give Army the 25-18 decision.
Army trailed for most of the third set and by four points at one point (6-2). Wesley and Strong brought the score within one off a block for the Black Knights before Wesley put away a free ball at the net to tie things up at 11-all.
The Black Knights took their first lead of the third set (15-14) when Clay tipped the ball for a kill. Bethune tacked on a kill of her own with a dump on the Bison's side.
Nikki Lum entered the court for the Cadets when they trailed 18-16. She instantly tallied two assists to re-tie the score at 18-18. The Bison reached the 20-point mark of the set for the first time this match and scored the next seven points to take their first of the afternoon, 25-18.
Set four featured a lot of back and forth action between the two squads with multiple lead changes.
Clay was on the serve in the fourth set with the score at 15-all during a 4-0 run by the Black Knights. Strong had a kill before Clay served back-to-back aces to push the Cadets ahead 18-15.
Army reached the 20-point mark first in the fourth set due to a kill by Strong, but the Bison tied the set up at 20-all with a kill of their own. A kill and block by Wesley put Army ahead again 23-21. Lipscomb fought back, but a service error by the Bison closed-out the set, 25-23, a gave the Cadets a 3-1 victory.

QUOTES FROM HEAD COACH ALMA KOVACI LEE

"I am so proud of how the entire team played today, especially how Allie stepped up. As a team we communicated and grinded out to win. We pushed through and got the important points that were critical to our success."
"Today's victory was a team effort from all 17 players that we have. Our blocking game was unbelievable against a top-50 team in the country. For the team to achieve this victory with the adversities we have faced was a great achievement."
"Haven led a good offense, but what was really awesome to see was her teammates helping her throughout the battle. Olivia stepping in the middle without hesitation doing her absolute best set the tone for the team in the match. The coaching staff did an incredible job with the blocking defense against a great opponent. Our girls executed and we are looking to the next match."

UP NEXT
Army will face No. 3 Texas this evening at 8:30 p.m. (ET) at Gregory Gym.