Volleyball Starts Strong, Sweeps UTSA

Saturday, September 3

Austin, TX

7:30 PM (ET)

Army West Point

2-4

UTSA

3-3

UTSA

Army

Volleyball Starts Strong, Sweeps UTSA

September 03, 2016 | Volleyball

Box Score

AUSTIN, Texas – The Army West Point volleyball team competed in its final contest at the American Campus Classic Saturday evening with a 3-0 win over UTSA.

ARMY HIGHLIGHTS AND GAME NOTES

Allie Strong shined for the Black Knights in today's match with 11.5 points off 11 kills and a .588 hitting percentage along with six digs. Amber Clay continued to be a standout player for Army with a team-leading 15 points, 14 kills and a .414 hitting percentage.
Vanessa Wesley hit .364 tonight off six kills while adding two blocks. Haven Bethune controlled the Cadets' offense with 23 assists and a team-leading three blocks. Olivia Fairfield also assisted in tonight's efforts with 5.5 points off five kills (.300) and one block assist.
Megan Bryn recorded eight digs to lead Army defensively and tallied a match-leading three service aces.

QUOTES FROM HEAD COACH ALMA KOVACI LEE

"This was an incredible tournament for us. Our goal was to get 1% better every day and we did that."
"Our mindset was really good coming into this weekend. Overall as a team, everyone had the right mindset and focus. Nobody was happy with the outcome from last week and with so many new players in the lineup we did well and have really progressed."
"We have improved in every skill and we made progress. We have a long ways to go, but right now we are going to enjoy the results of this tournament and will refocus Monday for next weekend at Dartmouth."

HOW IT HAPPENED

The Black Knights came out strong in the match and captured the first six points uninterrupted. Two attacking errors by UTSA and kills by Strong Wesley gave Army the early lead along with blocks by the pair.
The Roadrunners fought chipped away at the Black Knights' lead, but were unsuccessful. Clay started things up again for Army with a kill making the score 9-4 before Bryn notched two-straight service aces.
Alone at the net, Wesley denied UTSA's advances with a solo block to put the Cadets ahead 15-6. Army then went on a 5-3 run to capture the 20-point mark first. After a comeback attempt by the Roadrunners, Army would close-out the set with five-straight points fueled by Clay who had two kills to finish the set with a .600 hitting percentage, and Bethune who had a kill and block assist with Fairfield to win 25-12.
The season set featured a back-and-forth battle between the two sides. Bethune re-tied the match at 16-all with a surprise dump to a hole on the Roadrunners' side. They and Army exchanged points before Army claimed a lead in the set, 18-17. There was continued back-and-forth before either side was able to capture more than a one point lead at 21-19.
Strong captured back-to-back kills to keep the Black Knights' momentum going in the set for a 6-0 run to win. Bethune setup Army for set point with a block then an attacking error by the Roadrunners gave the Cadets the set.
The third set was much of the same as the second, but Army jumped ahead 15-12 for the media timeout. UTSA then chipped its way back into the set with a 3-1 run which caused the Black Knights to call a timeout of their own.
Clay recorded a kill off a tip to get the Cadets rolling again with assistance from Strong. The freshman then posted another kill for Army before Ellie Petersen had a service ace to tie things up. Strong continued to shine as she connected with Bethune to claim a 20-19 lead.
The Roadrunners kept the set tight until the end. With the Black Knights leading 23-22, Bryn had another ace to set the team up for match point then a kill by Clay sealed it for Army.

UP NEXT
The next tournament on the docket for the Black Knights will be the Dartmouth Tournament Sept. 9-10 in Hanover, N.H. Army will take on the hosting Big Green as well as Hartford, CCSU and Niagara.