Army West Point Athletics
Army West Point
15-8, 6-4
Navy
11-9, 6-3
Navy Outlasts Army In Another Five Set Classic
October 26, 2019 | Volleyball
ANNAPOLIS, Md. –The Army West Point volleyball team fell in a five-set thriller to service academy rival Navy in Annapolis on Saturday.
The Black Knights (15-8, 6-4) had their chances in this one as they held a 2-1 lead after three sets. Navy fought back to take the final two sets to secure a crucial conference victory.
"This was a typical Army-Navy Game and they had home court advantage and it made a difference," Head coach Alma Kovaci Lee said. "I thought we played well, but we should have taken advantage of some of the leads and we didn't. We played better volleyball today and we will build from here!"
The Mids were strong throughout the first set, taking a lead at the 4-4 mark that they would never relinquish. That lead stretched to as high as seven points before Navy closed out the set 25-19.
Navy started off strong again in the second before the Cadets found their rhythm, winning eight straight points to jump out to a 12-6 lead. Army stayed in control throughout the set, winning that game 25-15.
That momentum was carried into set three, with Army taking eight of the first 10 points and ultimately winning the set 25-20. Through the first three sets, Army was able to limit its mistakes, committing just 11 errors through three. That trend reversed in the fourth set, with the Cadets committing 10 errors in the set to Navy's two errors.
The teams headed to a deciding fifth set for the second time this season and this time it was the Midshipmen who were able to gain the upper hand. Navy won the set 15-12 to close out the match and move into third place in the Patriot League standings.
Two Black Knights posted their top offensive outputs of the season in this one, as Sydney Morriss (18) and Monica Eckford (17) set new season-highs in kills. Eckford's 17-kill effort tied a career-high and she did so with a season-best .500 hitting percentage. Allie Strong (12 kills, 17 digs) recorded her sixth double-double of the season. Hannah Presley (27) and Nikki Lum (26) each posted 20-assist games. Lum's 26 assists was a season high for the senior.
"Sydney and Monica carried us and I thought Sayler (Butters) did a good job as well," Kovaci Lee said. "We will figure out how to have more control of the game this week in practice and tackle Colgate next week. We will work on being more efficient with the ball and having that killer instinct at all times."
Army will once again be on the road next week with matchups at Colgate on Friday and Holy Cross on Saturday. The Raiders suffered their first conference loss of the season on Saturday when they fell to American 3-0 in Washington, D.C.
