Volleyball Comeback Cut Short, Black Knights Drop Five-Setter to Hofstra in Thrilling Home Opener

Friday, September 13

West Point, NY

6:00 PM

Army West Point

3-4,0-0Patriot

Hofstra

3-4,0-0CAA

Team	1	2	3	4	5	Final F
Hofstra	23	25	31	18	15	3
Army West Point	25	19	29	25	10	2

Volleyball Comeback Cut Short, Black Knights Drop Five-Setter to Hofstra in Thrilling Home Opener

September 14, 2024 | Volleyball

Box Score Photo Gallery

WEST POINT, N.Y. – Army Volleyball began their home tournament, the Black Knights Invitational, with a matinee match on Friday evening against the Hofstra Pride. The Pride claimed the first two sets, but the Black Knights fought back to claim the third and fourth sets before Hofstra clinched the match with their 15-10 win in set five.

Match Recap
Army's squad began their run in their 2024 Black Knights Invitational with a strong start as they fed off the energy from competing in their home venue for the first time in the 2024 season.

The Black Knights kicked things off to a 4-2 lead with quick work from junior outside hitter Chloe Murakami and senior opposite hitter Kingsley Wallace.

Hofstra's squad soon found their feet however, and evened things up at a 4-4 mark. The Pride briefly stepped into the lead before a kill from junior outside hitter Mackenzie Lynch brought things tied once more at 6-6.

Myrick and Lynch combined to give the Black Knights a 5-2 run in the middle of the match, pushing Army up to a 16-14 lead that junior outside hitter Norah Shattan extended up to a 19-14 lead with a pair of aces and an attacking error from the Pride.

Hofstra chipped away at Army's lead until the match stood at 23-22 in the Black Knights' favor when a pair of attack errors from the visitors saw Army secure the first set in their first home match of the season.

Army and Hofstra both demonstrated that they came to play on Friday as set two began.

The two teams traded points and kills and leads left, right, and center as the second set continued with 13 total lead changes as the set progressed.

Things held neck and neck until 14-14 when a two-point lead for the Black Knights kicked the Pride into gear and saw the Pride tie the match up before charging ahead to a 20-17 lead.

Lynch notched another kill on the night to bring the Black Knights up to 18 points in the set, but the Pride pressed on and clinched the second set in their favor with a trio of kills.

As the night wore on, the contentious match continued with Hofstra jumping ahead to a 6-1 lead as the Pride's offense found their groove and picked up speed.

The two attacking lines continued to produce for both teams, but Hofstra held onto their six-point lead all the way up to an 18-12 split.

Wallace and Murakami added kills to the board for Army to spark a resurgence for the Black Knights.

Army's squad fought their way up the scoreboard until the match was brought tied at 22-22.

A true battle of wills began between the two programs as the match saw seven separate set point opportunities before the Pride could capitalize on an Army attacking error and clinch a 31-29 set three win, a set covering just over 45 minutes of action.

The Black Knights had gotten their fight back with their fight at the end of set three and worked their way up to a 13-8 lead in the fourth frame as Lynch continued to show out for Army's offense.

Army's setter, Myrick and freshman setter Naomi Chinchar, showcased incredible connections with their hitters, moving up to a 20-14 lead on a kill from freshman middle blocker Tatum Grimes.

A kill from the Pride seemed to threaten the Black Knights' dominating performance in the fourth frame, but Army's squad quickly took control of the set back with a kill from freshman middle blocker Breelyn Bender before a kill from Wallace and a trio of blocks from Army's front row sent the match into a tiebreak set.

The tight play continued into the tiebreak set with four ties in the shortened set before the side switch as Kingsley Wallace put down a trio of kills along with a kill from Murakami to bring things tied at 6-6.

The Pride took a 4-2 run to go up 10-8 before the Black Knights could tie things up at 10-10.

The long match took its toll, however, and a trio of Army attacking errors and a pair of Pride kills saw set five end at 15-10 for the visitors,

Black Knight Bullet Points

The match was a defensive showcase for the Black Knights with 15.0 total blocks as a team from four solo blocks and 22 block assists along with 74 total digs. Army out-blocked the Pride 15.0-4.0 total blocks.
Army proved more successful than Hofstra at the serving line with five aces to the Pride's three and five service errors to the Pride's nine.
Junior outside hitter Mackenzie Lynch led the Black Knights' offense with 18 kills on a .212 hitting percentage, followed by senior opposite hitter Kingsley Wallace with 16 kills on a .405 hitting percentage. The match marks Wallace's fifth this season hitting over .300.
Both Lynch and freshman setter Naomi Chinchar recorded 16 digs in the match, shadowed closely by sophomore setter Juliette Myrick with 15 digs of her own.
Freshman middle blocker Breelyn Bender tallied two solo blocks and eight block assists marking the first time an Army player has participated in 10 blocks in one match since Paige Fixemer against Sacred Heart in 2021.
Army is now 1-3 at home against Hofstra with an overall 2-3 mark against the Pride.

Coach's Corner
"I have to give credit to Hofstra. They are a good team with very powerful hitters that carry a lot of experience," said Head Coach Alma Kovaci Lee. "They played great defense and they had a lot of power tonight."

"I'm proud of our fight tonight. We showed some grit and some real growth in this match," Kovaci Lee continued. "I did think that Mackenzie Lynch had a better game today that we saw from her last weekend."

"At the end of the game, we would like to see our team manage our swings and limit our errors a little bit more because a lot of times that's what it comes down to, like it did tonight," finished Kovaci Lee. "In the end that's what it came down to – just managing our game a little bit better in the fifth set but we played a great team tonight with some great effort from our team and we're looking forward to playing a great Bryant team tomorrow."

Up Next
Army's squad will return to action at Gillis Field House on Saturday, Sept. 14^th for their second match of the Black Knights Invitational. Army will face the Bryant Bulldogs 3:00pm ET.

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.