Volleyball Falls in Four to American in Second Regular Season Matchup with the Eagles

Saturday, October 19

West Point, NY

6:00 PM

Army West Point

8-10,4-5Patriot

American

17-4,7-2Patriot

American

Army West Point

Volleyball Falls in Four to American in Second Regular Season Matchup with the Eagles

October 19, 2024 | Volleyball

Box Score

WEST POINT, N.Y.- The Black Knights returned to Gillis Field House Saturday night for their second matchup with the American Eagles of the regular season. Army's squad worked hard to find their stride, but the Eagles' experience won out and the visitors took home a 3-1 win.

Army's outside hitters battled hard with American's for control of the match pace. Mackenzie Lynch and Chloe Murakami claimed the second and third highest kill totals of the match with 13 and 14 kills respectively.

The two squads paced each other in a mirror performance of their showdown only one week prior as American collected 50 total kills to Army's 44, 49 assists to Army's 42 77 digs to Army's 63, and four solo blocks apiece. The match came down to control of errors as American committed 39 total errors while Army recorded 44 total errors across the match between serving, attacking, blocking, serve receive, and ball handling errors.

Match Recap
The two teams both came to play after the previous week's tumultuous showdown, holding tied all the way up through 7-7 before the visitors pulled ahead to the first significant lead of the match.

Army's outside hitters worked hard to break up the American block as Chloe Murakami set the pace for the Black Knights' hitters.

The Black Knights worked to keep the Eagles from claiming the first set with a kill from Lynch, but American buried the final point of the set to claim the first set win of the match.

Army came roaring back in the second frame, finding their edge early in the action as they moved to a 4-2 lead on a Lynch kill and up to 7-2 on an ace for Naomi Chinchar.

The Black Knights' offense hammered American's squad, notching kills from Lynch, Breelyn Bender, and Kingsley Wallace to move up to 18-12.

American tried to curb Army's momentum but the Black Knights could not be held back and the squad claimed a 25-19 set two win to bring the match tied at 1-1.

The Black Knights felt the momentum building their way as the third frame began, moving up to a 7-1 lead on a kill from Tatum Grimes to cap off an impressive run for Army.

Army's squad continued to press their advantage, holding hteir edge up to a 14-6 lead from Lynch.

A pair of kills from Lynch and Wallace brought Army within two points of the 20-point threshold before American kicked things into another gear and put up a 9-1 run to regain the lead at 21-19.

Army pulled themselves back up to a tie at 23-23 but a kill and block for the Eagles saw the visitors take a 2-1 lead in the contest.

From there, the Black Knights battled with American for control over the match's pace, remaining tied up through 4-4 in the fourth frame before American could rapidly expand their lead to a four point differential (12-8).

The Eagles found an updraft as the match drew on and the visitors surged up to a, 18-15 lead.

After a pair of kills stunned the Black Knights and brought American across the 20-point threshold, Army forced themselves to a higher pace of play, burying kills with authority to bring the match tied at 23-23 all.

The Black Knights fought aggressively in the final points of the match before a Black Knight hitting error sealed American's second regular season win over Army in two weeks.

Up Next
Army will take to the road once more as they head to Baltimore, Md. for a contest at Loyola Maryland on Friday, Oct. 25^th at 7pm ET.