Cadets Rally, Top Albany in Five-Set Thriller

Friday, August 31

West Point, NY

7 PM

Army West Point

2-2, 0-0PL

Albany

1-4, 0-0AE

Albany

Army

Volleyball Celebrates after a point - 2018

Cadets Rally, Top Albany in Five-Set Thriller

August 31, 2018 | Volleyball

Box Score

WEST POINT, N.Y. – Down 2-0 in the match, the Army West Point volleyball team rallied back to defeat Albany in five sets to mark the Cadets' first five-set victory of 2018.

"I am proud of the team for staying in it until the very end and never taking a play off," said head coach Alma Kovaci Lee. "It showed a lot of grit and they believed in each other. It was a total team win, and we hadn't beaten Albany in a long time, even with more experienced teams on the court. I am just so proud."

The Black Knights dominated offensively with a 91-63 point advantage over the Great Danes. Army boasted 70 assists in the effort and had two players with double-doubles.

HOW IT HAPPENED
FIRST SET (Albany 25, Army 23)

Army and Albany went back and forth with nine tie scores and two lead changes in the set.
Courtney Horace stepped up with the score knotted at 10-all with a solo block to give the Black Knights an important lead.
The Cadets captured an 18-15 lead, but the Great Danes chipped away to take a 22-21 advantage.
Albany would not relinquish the lead once more and claimed the first set 25-23.

SECOND SET (Albany 25, Army 22)

Trailing 20-16 in the second, the Black Knights staged a comeback against the Great Danes.
Brianna Hartman stepped in to her first collegiate appearance and brought Army within two with a block assist alongside Sydney Morriss.
Albany came back to earn two-straight points, but a kill from Morriss kept the Cadets alive.
A final kill by the Great Danes however gave them the set.
Morriss led both sides with six kills in the second.

THIRD SET (Army 26, Albany 24)

Albany jumped ahead 19-12, but seven consecutive points by the Black Knights tied the match at 19-19.
The Black Knights saw three straight kills by Emmy Barnhorst in the stretch to help Army knot the score.
Lisa Sullivan notched her only kill of the set at a critical moment which pushed the Cadets up 23-22.
After an Albany error, Monica Eckford slammed the ball down at the net to keep Army alive.
Barnhorst picked up six kills this set, while Lauren Janok had 15 assists.

FOURTH SET (Army 26, Albany 24)

The fourth set was a tale of perseverance with 12 tie scores and three lead changes.
At long last, Army went ahead 24-23 with two kills from Lisa Sullivan and one from Janok.
A point by the Great Danes tied things up again, but the Black Knights bounced right back to force a fifth set after two-straight kills by Eckford.
The sophomore finished with six kills in the set.

FIFTH SET (Army 15, Albany 12)

It was Army's third five-set match in a row, and first victory in 2018.
The Black Knights jumped ahead 10-6 in the final set. Albany fought back to bring the score within two, but a kill from Horace sparked the Cadets once again.
Horace and Barnhorst earned kills to set Army up for match point.
A final block by Eckford and Sullivan sealed the victory at 15-12.
Horace led the team with five kills in the final set.

ARMY HIGHLIGHTS AND GAME NOTES

Janok paced Army's offensive unit with a career-high 39 assists and 19 digs for a double-double.
Nikki Lum also aided in the effort with 10 assists and 13 digs.
Morriss led both sides with 21 kills, one off from her career-high and hit .302 on the night.
Barnhorst notched a career-high 17 kills (.333), while Horace finished with 14.
Ana Oglivie recorded 26 digs on the night.
Eckford led the Black Knights at the net with five of the team's nine blocks.

ARMY INVITATIONAL RESULTS