Volleyball Blanks Lafayette Leopards 3-0

Friday, October 11

Easton, PA

7:00 PM

Army West Point

8-8,4-3Patriot

Lafayette

6-10,1-6Patriot

Army West Point

Lafayette

Volleyball Blanks Lafayette Leopards 3-0

October 11, 2024 | Volleyball

Box Score

EASTON, Pa. – Army Volleyball took to the road on Friday for a Patriot League matchup in Easton, Pa. against the Lafayette Leopards. The Black Knights hit the ground running and claimed the win in just three sets with decisive set scores of 25-19, 25-15, and 25-12.

The Black Knights dominated the match – logging 46 kills to Lafayette's 26, six aces to none, 38 assists to 36, and 48 digs to the Leopards' 40, and 57.0 total points to the host's 31.0.

Army's outside hitters led the match with 11 kills from Mackenzie Lynch and 10 kills from Chloe Murakami. Lynch also led the match in digs with 12 while Murakami tied for the second-highest tally with 11.

Murakami also tied her career high in service aces against the Leopards with three aces across the three sets of action. Sophomore setter Juliette Myrick dished out 22 aces in the contest, her 13^th time collecting 20+ digs in a match this season.

Match Recap
Army hit the ground running form the first whistle in Easton, jumping ahead to a 5-2 lead on back-to-back kills from freshman middle blocker Tatum Grimes and junior outside hitter Mackenzie Lynch.

The Leopards came within one point on a pair of their own kills but the Black Knights logged a 3-1 run to move the score up to 8-5.

Lafayette leveled the playing field to an 8-8 tie moments later but the Black Knights put their foot on the gas to open up an 18-13 differential with a full-team effort from Army.

The Black Knights continued to press their advantage, moving up to a 22-15 lead that Army soon cashed in on with a kill from junior outside hitter Chloe Murakami to clinch the 25-19 first set win.

Lafayette came to play in the second set, remaining tied with Army up through 3-3 and pulling within one point at 8-7 before the Black Knights burst into the lead.

Army surged ahead on a 10-2 run that featured a slate of Black Knight kills including showings from Murakami, Breelyn Bender, Lynch, and senior rightside hitter Kingsley Wallace.

The Leopards looked to claw back some ground with kills across the remaining points of play, but the Black Knights continued to side out at the first opportunity to claim the second set 25-15.

Bender combined with Wallace and Lynch for a pair of kills in the opening points of set three to set the Black Knights on a blazing pace for the third frame.

After Army leapt ahead to an 11-4 lead on a kill from Myrick, Lafayette fought to make their way back towards an even score but the Black Knights kept the pressure high with a pair of kills from Bender to push Army up to a 19-9 edge.

Lafayette logged a kill in an effort to curb Army's momentum, but a Leopard service error followed by a Black Knight ace from Nicole Stroud kept Army's spirits high.

Kills from Kealakai Bandy and Tatum Grimes bookended a Lafayette ball handling error to clinch the sweep for Army with a 25-12 third frame final score.

Black Knight Bullet Points

Mackenzie Lynch and Chloe Murakami both logged double-doubles in the matchup with 11 kills and 12 digs for Lynch and 10 kills and 10 digs for Murakami.
Juliette Myrick notched her 13^th 20+ assist performance against the Leopards, logging seven kills of her own to help Army to its 57 total points.
Breelyn Bender led the match with four blocks for the Black Knights.
With the win, head coach Alma Kovaci Lee moves up to 323 total wins in her time as Army's head coach. She now stands within five wins of breaking the all-time wins record currently held by former Army head coach Bob Gambardella with 326 wins.

Coach's Corner
"We're really proud of our team," said Head Coach Alma Kovaci Lee. "They are learning to play together and trust each other and that is so much fun to see. We see six or seven players on the court during a game but there are 18 players that bring it every day in practice and are ready to compete at any given moment. It is great to see us be efficient with our game. We are having so much fun!"

Up Next
Army will travel on to Washington, D.C. to take on American at Bender Arena on Saturday, Oct. 12^th at 6pm 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.