Volleyball Takes Down #2 Bucknell, Advances to Patriot League Championship

Friday, November 22

Hamilton, NY

2:30 PM

Army West Point

16-11,10-6Patriot

Bucknell

21-5,13-3Patriot

Army West Point

Bucknell

Volleyball Takes Down #2 Bucknell, Advances to Patriot League Championship

November 22, 2024 | Volleyball

Box Score

HAMILTON, N.Y. – =The fourth-seeded Army West Point Volleyball traveled to Hamilton, N.Y. for its Patriot League semifinal matchup against two-seed Bucknell Friday afternoon. The Black Knights delivered a grit-filled performance and claimed the five-set win to advance to the 2024 Patriot League Championship match.

The two teams took turns controlling the momentum of the match but Army took advantage of key points in the tiebreak set to claim the 3-2 win.

The Black Knights out-swung the Bison 62-45 with a more efficient .218 hitting percentage to Bucknell's .104. Kingsley Wallace led the match with 19 total kills. Michelle Parker was Army's most efficient hitter, tallying five kills with zero errors for a .417 hitting percentage.

Army dominated the blocking game with 16.0 team blocks to Bucknell's 8.0 team blocks. Michelle Parker led the match with nine block assists and a solo block for 10 blocks against the Bison.

Juliette Myrick notched her seventh triple double of the season – tallying a team-third 11 kills, 36 assists, and a team-second 16 digs. Chloe Murakami recorded a team-second 12 kills on a .226 hitting percentage, adding an assist, a service ace, and 15 digs to her numbers for the match.

Match Recap
Army got off to a quick start after their dominant quarterfinal win over the #5 Loyola Maryland Greyhounds, firing on every cylinder to take an immense 16-5 lead in less than 20 minutes.

The Black Knights kept their pace of play high with three consecutive kills from senior right-side hitter Kingsley Wallace to bring Army to a 21-7 advantage.

Freshmen middle blockers Michelle Parker and Tatum Grimes added kills to the Black Knights' tally and a hammer from junior outside hitter gave the Black Knights their first set point opportunity of the match at 24-11.

Back-to-back service errors from both squads clinched the first set in Army's favor 25-12.

The Bison bounced back in set two, putting together a 7-1 run early in the second frame to go up 11-6.

A trio of Bucknell errors kept Army close until a 6-1 run for the Bison brought the designated home team to a 22-16 advantage.

The Black Knights worked to chip away at the gap with a pair of kills coming from sophomore setter Juliette Myrick, but Bucknell's offense put away three kills to secure the second set and bring the match tied.

Set three saw Army forge ahead early in the action, building on kills from Wallace, Grimes, and Lynch to claim a 9-4 lead, maintaining at least a three point lead for the remainder of the set.

Army's squad worked in tandem to string together with back-to-back blocks from Parker with first Wallace and then Lynch bringing the Black Knights to the 20-point mark with a 10-point lead.

The Bison challenged Army's hold, putting five more points on the board but the Black Knights earned the final five points they needed to clinch the third set as Wallace buried two kills, Grimes and Lynch combined for a block, Lynch delivered a service ace, and Myrick put away a kill for point 25.

The tumultuous match continued as the fourth frame began and the two teams battled for control of the match's momentum, finding ties 18 times as the set progressed.

After a 23-23 tie, Bucknell found a break on back-to-back attack errors from the Black Knights and the match we sent to a fifth set.

The back-and-forth play continued as the tiebreaker began but a powerful kill from Tatum Grimes out of the middle on a transition play gave Army the spark it needed to push into a tangible lead at 7-4.

Bucknell's squad earned their points as the final set wore on, but the energy rested firmly with Army's team, peaking at 14-11 with a roof of a block from Parker and Lynch against the Bison's right-side hitter.

The Black Knights looked poised to repeat their success of the previous play with Wallace and Grimes turning away one swing attempt from Bucknell when an attack error on the following attack from the Bison clinched Army's five-set win 15-11.

Black Knight Bullet Points

With Friday's win, the Black Knights advance to the championship match of the Patriot League Tournament for the first time since the 2020-21 season. The Black Knights defeated No. 1 seeded Colgate 3-1 that year.
The Black Knights out-swung the Bison 62-45 with a more efficient .218 hitting percentage to Bucknell's .104. Kingsley Wallace led the match with 19 total kills. Michelle Parker was Army's most efficient hitter, tallying five kills with zero errors for a .417 hitting percentage.
Army dominated the blocking game with 16.0 team blocks to Bucknell's 8.0 team blocks. Michelle Parker led the match with nine block assists and a solo block for 10 blocks against the Bison.
Juliette Myrick notched her seventh triple double of the season – tallying a team-third 11 kills, 36 assists, and a team-second 16 digs.
Chloe Murakami recorded a team-second 12 kills on a .226 hitting percentage, adding an assist, a service ace, and 15 digs to her numbers for the match.

Coach's Corner

Hear from Head Coach Alma Kovaci Lee on tonight's semifinal win ??#GoArmy pic.twitter.com/jQtBASUWn1
— Army Volleyball (@ArmyWP_VB) November 22, 2024

Up Next
Army will compete in the 2024 Patriot League Championship match on Sunday, Nov. 24^th at 2pm EST in Hamilton, N.Y. Army will face the winner of the second semifinal match, taking place at 5:30pm EST on Friday, Nov. 2^nd between #1 Colgate and #6 Lehigh.

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.