Volleyball Closes Out Regular Season With Sweep Over Lafayette on Senior Day

Saturday, November 16

West Point, NY

4:00 PM

Army West Point

14-11,10-6Patriot

Lafayette

7-18,2-14Patriot

Lafayette

Army West Point

Volleyball Closes Out Regular Season With Sweep Over Lafayette on Senior Day

November 16, 2024 | Volleyball

Box Score

WEST POINT, N.Y. – Army West Point Volleyball celebrated its 2024 Senior Day on Saturday as they took on the Lafayette Leopards for their final match of the regular season. The Black Knights swept the Leopards in a dominant fashion and increased their overall record to 14-11 with a 10-6 mark over Patriot League opponents heading into the postseason.

The Black Knights began the night by honoring their lone firstie – right-side hitter Kingsley Wallace. As one of only two players in NCAA Division I volleyball to be the only senior on their squad with no graduate students, Wallace is the only lone senior to lead their team in kills and she added to her tally with nine kills on a .364 hitting percentage against the Leopards.

Junior outside hitters Mackenzie Lynch and Chloe Murakami put on a show for Army against the Leopards. Lynch totaled a match- high 12 kills with Murakami right alongside with 11. Both hitters were highly efficient, clocking hitting percentages of .370 and .348 respectively.

Match Recap
The Leopards held close the Black Knights as the match began, matching Army step-for-step until the Black Knights hit stride and put together a six-point run to go up 13-9 in the first set.

Army continues to tally kills as Michelle Parker, Kingsley Wallace, Mackenzie Lynch, and Chloe Murakami added to their tallies with Murakami pulling the Black Knights up to and across the 20-point threshold.

An attacking error from the Leopards and three consecutive kills for Wallace clinched the first set in Army's favor.

The Black Knights leapt into the lead as the second frame began, quickly running up a 6-2 lead that was extended to an 8-4 tally with two kills for freshman middle Tatum Grimes.

Army refused to let up on the pressure, adding to their advantage and finding an 11-point lead with four straight kills from the Black Knights to move from 16-9 to 20-9.

Lafayette looked to chip away at Army's lead, finding several lengthy runs to bring the match to a 24-17 mark in Army's favor before Wallace and Parker teamed up for a double block that gave Army the insurance set at 25-17.

Army forged ahead early in the third frame with a 6-1 lead. Wallace, Grimes, Lynch, and Murakami extended Army's advantage up to an 11-2 differential with five consecutive kills.

A trio of kills from Juliette Myrick, Murakami, and Parker brought Army to the 20-point mark but it was a textbook tip over the block from Lynch that would seal Army's Senior Day sweep.

Black Knight Bullet Points

Army's offense dominated the match, logging 50 total kills on the night while Lafayette only tallied 26. Mackenzie Lynch led the Black Knights with 12 kills and a .370 hitting percentage, followed by Chloe Murakami with 11 an .348 and Kingsley Wallace with nine kills and a .364 hitting percentage.
Freshman middle blocker stepped into the match midway through the first set and
The Black Knights were highly efficient in their attacks, collecting a .361 hitting percentage as a team to Lafayette's .129 mark.
Army's servers handled business, earning seven service aces to the Leopards' two. Three Black Knights claimed two aces in Saturday's match – Lynch, Murakami, and their fellow junior outside hitter Norah Shattan.
Freshman libero Nicole Stroud showed out for Army, picking up a match-high 17 digs to lead Army to 54 total digs.
Sophomore setter Juliette Myrick led the match with 38 assists and guiding the Black Knights to 46 total assists – double Lafayette's total of 23 total assists.

Coach's Corner
'I'm very proud of the team for finishing the season on a high note," commented Head Coach Alma Kovaci Lee. "Kingsley Wallace has done an incredible job throughout the four years she's been here with three years of preparing to actually shine and that is what she is doing right now. She has been a great leader for us and is someone that really leads by example as well which is important. Kingsley has been someone who is so selfless. She is someone that has worked hard for three years and then for her senior year she is just shining. She has prepared herself very, very well and is someone that is so selfless, and for her to be leading our team in kills is a credit to her work ethic and credit to her selfless attitude. I'm very proud of and respect Kingsley very, very much and so does this team, which has been really awesome to see.

"Overall tonight, we hit well," Kovaci Lee continued. "We were a little slow starting out, but as the game went on the team did a really good job and executed their assignments really well. It was important to us to finish the season on a high note, but it was also important to us to continue to develop, and I think we did that today."

"We are looking forward to a postseason run beginning here in Gillis Field House on Tuesday at 6:00pm against the Loyola Greyhounds," Kovaci Lee finished. "We are ready to go, we are confident, and we are going to fight to get to the semifinals."

Up Next
The No. 4 Black Knights will host the No. 5 Loyola Maryland Greyhounds on Tuesday, November 19^th in a Quarterfinal match of the 2024 Patriot League Tournament. First serve is set for 6pm EST and the match will be available to watch on ESPN+.

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.