Volleyball Sweeps Navy In Three Sets on the Road

Saturday, October 26

Annapolis, MD

7:00 PM

Army West Point

10-10,6-5Patriot

Navy

4-16,4-7Patriot

Army West Point

Navy

Volleyball Sweeps Navy In Three Sets on the Road

October 27, 2024 | Volleyball

Box Score

ANNAPOLIS, Md. – Army West Point Volleyball continued their road trip on Saturday night with a marquee matchup at the home of familiar foe Navy. The Black Knights battled back from a deficit in the first set and delivered commanding performances in the following two frames to secure their second win over the Midshipmen this season.

Senior rightside hitter Kingsley Wallace led the match in kills, closely followed by Mackenzie Lynch who tied with a Navy attacker for the second-highest tally in the match as Wallace tallied 11 kills and Lynch logged 10.

Setter Juliette Myrick continued her impressive sophomore campaign with a match-leading 32 assists in the contest while also picking up a team-high and match-third 13 digs over three sets of action.

Army's middles put in good work for the Black Knights as Tatum Grimes put down six kills on a .200 hitting percentage while Victoria Kasanganay record four kills with zero errors for a team and match-high .444 hitting percentage. The duo maintained a solid block for Army's front row as Kasanganay claimed six blocks in the contest – including her fourth solo block of the season – and Grimes gathered four blocks of her own.

With the squad's 53^rd all-time win over Navy, Head Coach Alma Kovaci Lee moves up to 325 total wins in her time as Army Volleyball's head coach. Kovaci Lee's new total puts her just one win away from tying the all-time wins record in Army Volleyball program history, currently held by former head coach Bob Gambardella with 326 wins.

Match Recap
After Army and Navy last clashed in a knockdown, drag out five-set battle in September that saw Army claim the thrilling victory and the coveted Star Match as part of the Army-Navy Star Series, presented by USAA, the two teams settled in for a hard night's work at the Wesley Brown Fieldhouse.

Kingsley Wallace kicked things off in Army's favor with a fast-paced kill to open the scoring for Army. Wallace and freshman middle blocker Victoria Kasanganay combined to push Army up to a 3-1 lead as Kasanganay delivered a solo block that the duo immediately followed with a combined block against Navy's middle blocker.

A 4-1 run for the Midshipmen brought Navy into the lead, but Army took advantage of a pair of Navy errors and a rocket of a kill from junior outside hitter Mackenzie Lynch to step back into the 7-5 lead.

The Mids continued to challenge Army's resolve, cutting their lead and at times stepping ahead briefly themselves, but Army's team maintained their composure to a 22-19 advantage on a block from the duo of Wallace and Kasanganay.
Navy's squad strung together a 5-1 run with efficient work from their front row to earn the first set point opportunity of the match, but an emphatic kill from Lynch that ricocheted off the arms of Navy's libero brought the match tied with 24 points all.

Freshman middle blocker Tatum Grimes gave Army their own set point opportunity with a deep push tip that fell behind Army's right back defender.

Grimes then teamed up with sophomore setter Juliette Myrick to deny an attack from Navy's outside hitter and claim the first set 26-24.

Not willing to give in so easily on their home court, Navy blazed ahead to a 5-2 lead is the second frame began with an aggressive set of work from their front row.

Wallace buried a kill down the line at the feet of Navy's left back defender on a serve receive attempt for Army to change the tune and set off Army's response.

Freshman libero Nicole Stroud answered Wallace's call with a service ace to bring the Black Knights within one point of the Mids.

A four point run for the Black Knights gave Army the lead for the first time in the second set but Navy responded with a four point run of their own to reclaim a 10-8 lead just minutes later.

As the two teams traded blows, it was a four point run and a trio of kills from Chloe Murakami, Kasanganay, and Wallace that helped Army edge ahead of the Mids.

Navy drew within one point of the Black Knights at 18-17 for Army on back-to-back service errors from both teams before a service run from freshman setter Naomi Chinchar with kills from Grimes, Myrick, and Lynch as well as a one-handed solo block for Lynch to stop Navy's middle brought the Black Knights to a 22-17 lead.

A kill and a block for the Mids could not stop Army's momentum, however, and the Black Knights secured the second set 25-19 with a cross-court slide kill from Tatum Grimes.

The Mids fought to stay close to Army as the third set began but Army's momentum after claiming the first two sets would be undeniable as the Black Knights soon compiled a six-point lead to go up 10-4 on a service ace for Lynch and an attacking error for Navy.

Army's offense continued to hammer the Navy defense while their own back court worked tirelessly to deny Navy of critical points.

In a one, two punch of offense and defense, Myrick notched her fifth kill of the night to bring Army to a 20-15 lead that was immediately extended by yet another block for the Wallace and Kasanganay duo to push army six points ahead of the host team.

Kills from Army outsides Murakami and Lynch brought the Black Knights to the doorstep of the potential sweep, but it was back to back blocks for Tatum Grimes, first with Lynch and then with Wallace that made the sweep a reality with their 25-19 set three win.

Black Knight Bullet Points

Army dominated the stats page, besting Navy in kills (44 to 37), hitting percentage (.208 to 157), assists (40 to 33), digs (50 to 44), but most especially in service aces (six to four) and blocking (11 to four).
Kingsley Wallace and Mackenzie Lynch led Army's offense with 11 and 10 kills respectively.
Freshman middle Victoria Kasanganay was Army's most efficient hitter of the match with four kills and no errors for a .444 hitting percentage.
Sophomore setter Juliette Myrick dominated the assist column for both teams with 32 assists in three sets of action.
Three Black Knights claimed two service aces in the match – Mackenzie Lynch, Chloe Murakami, and Nicole Stroud.
Juliette Myrick and Nicole Stroud both collected double-digit digs with 13 digs for Myrick and 11 digs for Stroud.
Head Coach Alma Kovaci Lee now holds 325 total wins in her time as Army Volleyball's head coach putting her just one win away from tying the all-time wins record in Army Volleyball program history.

Match Reactions
"We are so proud of our team! They believed in themselves and played for each other tonight and that made for a really special match to watch tonight for Army Volleyball." – Head Coach Alma Kovaci Lee

"Beating Navy is not just about the final score, but about the determination, teamwork, and resilience that brought us here. We faced Navy and emerged stronger together! It's a proud moment for our team and a testament to our hard work and commitment." – Kingsley Wallace

"The sweep tonight against Navy was a great win, and I'm super proud of how every single person on this team did their job. The environment was loud, but we were confident the whole time, looking to each other for support and gaining control of the game. Beat Navy!" – Mackenzie Lynch

"Beating Navy is always so special, and tonight was just the same. We jumped on them from the beginning, and everyone just did their jobs extremely well which kept the momentum on our side of the net the entire game. This was a whole team win and I'm just so grateful to be a part of it!" – Juliette Myrick

Up Next
Army's squad will remain on the road as they next travel to Hamilton, N.Y. to face the Colgate Raiders at the Reid Athletic Center on Friday, Nov. 1 in a 7pm ET matchup.

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.