Volleyball Opens Season With Sweep Over Hampton

Friday, August 30

Buffalo, NY

2:00 PM

Army West Point

1-0,0-0Patriot

Hampton

0-1,0-0CAA

Team	1	2	3	Final F
Hampton	19	9	17	0
Army West Point	25	25	25	3

Volleyball Opens Season With Sweep Over Hampton

August 30, 2024 | Volleyball

Box Score

BUFFALO, N.Y. – Army volleyball began its 2024 campaign Friday afternoon at the Buffalo Invitational, hosted by the University at Buffalo. The Black Knights made a smashing debut as they claimed a 3-0 sweep over the Hampton Pirates to begin the weekend.

Match Recap
The Black Knights got off to a slow start, allowing the Pirates to take a 5-1 lead to begin the match after a slate of hitting errors from Army's squad.

Army soon picked up the pace, however, and came roaring back from their deficit after a pair of kills from senior right-side hitter Kingsley Wallace set the tone for the Black Knights.

As Army began letting the Pirates make their own mistakes, the Black Knights found their own offensive groove and a kill from junior outside hitter Mackenzie Lynch, a pair of kills from fellow junior outside hitter Chloe Murakami, and a kill from freshman middle blocker Tatum Grimes brought the squad up to an 11-8 lead in the contest.

The Black Knights continued to press their offensive momentum, holding a lead of at least three points throughout the rest of the set until they claimed the first set for Army with a decisive block from Kingsley Wallace and Victoria Kasanganay to shut down the Pirates' outside hitter and end set one 25-17 in Army's favor.

Army's momentum only grew in the second set as a trio of errors from the Pirates set the Black Knights on track for a 15-3 lead in the second frame.

The Black Knights' offense continued to hammer Hampton's defense and the squad surged up to a 21-5 lead after a kill from Kasanganay, an ace from sophomore setter Juliette Myrick, and a ball handling error from the Pirates.

A pair of kills from Wallace brought the Black Knights within two points of claiming the second set and after service errors from both sides, the Black Knights secured their two set lead with an ace from freshman setter Nicole Stroud.

Kasanganay and Wallace kept up the pressure from Army's front row with four kills in the first eight points of the third set to set the pace for the Black Knights as the match entered the third frame.

Army drew away to a nine-point lead twice in the set, first with a kill from Mackenzie Lynch to move to a 17-8 lead and then once more when a kill from Wallace took the Black Knights to a 20-11 lead.

Freshman middle blocker Michelle Parker put down a statement kill to further expand Army's lead to 21-11 before a brief resurgence from the Pirates closed the gap to 21-13.

Hampton attacking errors and another kill for Parker brought the Black Knights into match point territory before a kill from Kasanganay clinched the win for the Black Knights.

Black Knight Bullet Points

The win marks Army's first win in a season opener since 2021.
With today's win, Head Coach Alma Kovaci Lee stands just 10 wins away from tying the all-time wins record in Army Volleyball coaching history, currently held by Bob Gambardella with 326 wins.
Army now stands 1-0 all time against Hampton.
The match marked the debut of five new Black Knights – Michelle Parker, Naomi Chinchar, Nicole Stroud, Tatum Grimes, and Victoria Kasanganay.
Kingsley Wallace and Chloe Murakami led the Black Knights' offense with nine and eight kills respectively.
The Black Knights' setters worked in harmony against the Pirates as Naomi Chinchar delivered 15 assists in the matchup with Juliette Myrick following closely at 14 assists.
Mackenzie Lynch led Army's defense with 11 digs, joined by libero Ashli Alcala-Romero with seven.
Tatum Grimes put up a wall at the net, delivering the team's lone solo block of the match along with a trio of block assists for 2.5 total blocks against the Pirates.

Coach's Corner

"I'm very proud of the team for getting the win today. It is great to see the hard work pay off," commented Coach Kovaci Lee. "We continued to improve our play as the match went on. Our setters did a great job running our offense and our serving was tough. It was great to see all of our players succeed."

Up Next
The Black Knights will return to action in Buffalo, N.Y. on Saturday, August 31^st for their second match of the Buffalo Invitational. Army will face Oakland at 2:00pm in Alumni Arena.

Follow Along
For complete coverage of Army West Point women's volleyball, follow the Black Knights on Twitter and Instagram at @ArmyWP_VB and online at www.goarmywestpoint.com.