Army West Point Athletics
Army West Point
0-2,0-0Patriot
University of California
1-0,0-0Pac-12
Volleyball Falls to Cal to Conclude Day One of Army Invitational
August 25, 2023 | Volleyball
WEST POINT, NY - Army West Point volleyball (0-2) was defeated in three sets by the University of California (1-0) on Friday night at Gillis Field House to wrap day one of the Army Invitational. Savannah Bray led the Black Knights attack with eight kills while Mackenzie Karnig came off the bench as a libero to post a team-high nine digs.
Cal was able to jump out to a 4-0 and eventual 9-2 lead in the first set, a lead in which it would never look back from as the Bears took the opening frame by a score of 25-14 after leading by over six throughout. Savannah Bray paced the Black Knights through the opening set, totaling three kills and four digs.
Cal was able to play with a lead once again in the second set, getting out to an 8-2 advantage to start. Army battled back to 9-5 after a key block by Alyssa Lukasik but the Bears quickly responded with a 3-0 spurt to regain a more comfortable lead. The teams began to trade points as kills by Paige Fixemer and Savannah Bray eventually made it 14-8, while Allanah Cutler kept Army in it with a monster kill to make it a 16-10 Bears lead. Despite Army's comeback efforts, the Bears posted an eventual 25-13 triumph in the second set to take a commanding 2-0 lead.
In the third set, it was Army who got out on the front foot with a pair of points to begin with a Fixemer kill making it 2-0 in favor of the Black Knights. Army maintained a slim advantage through the early stages, with a Juliette Myrick ace making it a 6-4 scoreline in favor of Army. After the Bears took a brief 9-8 lead, a kill by Alyssa Lukasik and an attack error forced by a Fixemer block got Army back on track with a lead.
After a Cal service error made it 15-12 Army to prompt a media timeout, the Bears quickly tied the score back up at 15 to set up a thrilling end to set three. The teams traded timeouts after Cal got two quick points out of a timeout to tie the score at 19 to prompt Alma Kovaci Lee to call one of her own. Cal's Maggie Li came up clutch soon after with back-to-back kills to give Cal a late two-point lead, as the Bears were able to take the deciding 25th point of the set after a block by Mikayla Hayden to make it a narrow 25-22 victory.
Army will return tomorrow to take on Central Connecticut State at 2:30 p.m. from Gillis Field House.
