Army West Point Athletics
Army West Point
Marist
Army Tops Marist For First Win, 3-1
September 04, 2013 | Volleyball
Sep 4, 2013
WEST POINT, N.Y. - The Army volleyball team tallied its first win of the season against Marist, 3-1, Wednesday night at Gillis Field House. While the Hudson Valley rival came out strong in the first set, the Black Knights came back to sweep the final three sets. This is was 34th meeting between the teams in which Army holds a 32-2 winning record in the all-time series.
Marist (1-3), won the opening set, 25-20, but the Black Knights fought back to tie the match 1-1 with a 25-15 second set victory. Army then closed the match with 27-25 and 25-23 wins in the following sets.
After a 0-3 start at the Black Knights Invitational last weekend, Army made the necessary adjustments to steal the win. Freshman outside hitter Olivia Fairfield had a standout performance with 19 kills and averaged a .516 hitting percentage. Senior middle blocker Megan Wilton, returning from last season's injury, played in the first two sets of the match and averaged a .364 hitting percentage. Both sophomore Nicole Perri and senior co-captain Margaux Jarka registered double- number kills with 10 and 11, respectively.
Junior setter Mary Vaccaro was responsible for 52 of the 57 assists for the Black Knights, while senior co-captain D.J. Phee was accountable for 28 digs on the match.
"Today was a mentally challenging game but I am very proud to see what we have accomplished tonight. It was great to see Megan Wilton back in the starting line-up, even in just the first set or two," said head coach Alma Kovaci. "We couldn't have her for the whole match but it is good to have her back after a year of not playing."
"Give credit to Marist, they played an unbelievable game. They took advantage of our errors but I think it was taking a deep breath and taking a look at our side for a minute and changing what we did that helped improve our game. It is great to have the first win coming out of the tournament. We can gain some confidence since this is a brand new group that's playing, there are young players. Having this first win under our belts is good for us as a team," Kovaci continued.
The four-set match lasted exactly two hours in which three out of the four sets went point for point. Marist took control early in the match in which they took advantage of a seven point lead. Army struggled to close the gap throughout the match but came close in the end with back-to-back blocks from Fairfield and senior Kerry Horan. A kill from Perri put Phee on the service line for Army that resulted in an ace and only a four point deficit. Marist came back with a kill to secure their 25-20 victory.
Army exploded in the second set coming out to score the first point of the set. Kills from Horan, Fairfield and Perri, assisted by Vaccaro, allowed for Army to climb ahead. They continued to keep the lead for the duration of the set. Late kills from both Wilton and Jarka helped secure a 25-15 win for the Blacks Knights.
With a win for each team, the third set went head-to-head battle for the win. With only five lead changes, both teams went point for point, as neither team led more than five points the entire way. The Red Foxes leveled the score with Army only twice during the set, and only took the lead over Army twice early on in the set. With seven kills for Fairfield, four kills for Perri and three kills for Bell, the young team came out on top to win the set, 27-25.
As Marist fought to come back against Army, the teams again went point for point throughout the duration of the fourth set. Never getting more than three points ahead of one another, Army controlled the game on the front line. Blocks from Faifield and Jarka prevented Marist attacking on an offensively. The Black Knights came out on top 25-23 to take the win.
Throughout the match, Army was able to allow only one Marist player to reach double digits in kills. Both teams had 61 digs in the match.
Army will play next in the Valparaiso Tournament in Valparaiso, Ind., this coming weekend. The Black Knights will go head to head with teams including Valparaiso, Eastern Michigan and Rhode Island. The first match is set for Friday, Sept. 6, at 11:30 a.m. Fans who cannot make the trip can keep track of the contests on game tracker.
Match Notes: Today was the 21st birthday of senior Christiana Faifield...Megan Wilton played for the first time since last year's season ending injury.
