Volleyball Clinches Patriot League Postseason Berth, Kovaci Lee Becomes Winningest Coach in Program History

Friday, November 8

West Point, NY

7:00 PM

Army West Point

12-11,8-6Patriot

Lehigh

14-10,7-7Patriot

Lehigh

Army West Point

Volleyball Clinches Patriot League Postseason Berth, Kovaci Lee Becomes Winningest Coach in Program History

November 09, 2024 | Volleyball

Box Score Photo Gallery

WEST POINT, N.Y. – Army West Point Volleyball clinched their 20204 Patriot League postseason appearance on Friday night as they defeated the Lehigh Mountain Hawks 3-1. The Black Knights' 12^th win of the season saw Head Coach Alma Kovaci Lee earn her 327^th career win, making her the winningest coach in Army Volleyball program history as she surpasses the previous record of 326 wins, set by former head coach Bob Gambardella.

Army's outside hitters dominated the match as Mackenzie Lynch put away a match-leading 18 kills on a .298 hitting percentage while Chloe Murakami collected a match-second 13 kills at a .333 clip.

Sophomore setter Juliette Myrick orchestrated the Black Knights' offense to the tune of 35 assists, the highest tally of any active setter in the match.

Army's defense put on a show in the matchup, delivering 60 total digs with four of their number recording double digits as Lynch tallied 14 digs, Murakami recorded 13, Myrick added 12, and freshman setter Naomi Chinchar posted 10 digs across four sets of action.

Match Recap
Itching for a rematch after September's heartbreaking loss to the Mountain Hawks, the Black Knights made sure to hit the ground running from the get-go. Army match Lehigh's efforts step for step in the opening frame of the action, finding a tie at every point from 0-0 up to 12-12 until the visitors found some momentum on a block against Juliette Myrick on the right side.

After a four-point run for the Mountain Hawks saw Lehigh take a 15-12 lead, Army worked to cut away at their momentum. The Black Knights succeeded in returning the match to a tie only moments latera s Kingsley Wallace and Mackenzie Lynch went back-to-back on a pair of kills that tied Army at 18-18 with Lehigh.

The two programs each struggled to gain the advantage over the other but would not give up much ground as the match continued. An Army attacking error gave Lehigh set point opportunity at 24-22 and despite a kill from Wallace to hold off the Mountain Hawks' advance, Lehigh claimed set one 25-23 with a kill.

Army would not allow the visitors to remain in control of the momentum on their home court for long, however, and the Black Knights opened up a 5-1 lead early in the first with a kill from Wallace, back-to-back blocks from Wallace and freshman middle blocker Breelyn Bender, a kill from Lynch, and another block from Wallace and freshman middle blocker Tatum Grimes.

The Mountain Hawks struggled against the onslaught from Army but drew within two points at 6-4 with a block before the Black Knights put the pedal to the metal once more. A hammer of a kill from Chloe Murakami to bring Army back up to an 8-4 lead changed the tone of the match and set Army off on a pace that would hold through the end of the match.

The Black Knights would continue to rack up kills and dish up digs that prevented Lehigh from gaining a foothold, quickly clinching set two at 25-19 with a kill from Lynch and a block from Lynch and Grimes.

Army would hold its surge into the third set as it once more claimed a 5-1 lead with a block, this time a solo block from Bender to emphatically deny Lehigh's middle hitter. The Black Knights maintained at least a two-point lead throughout the remainder of the set, punching past the 20-point threshold and sealing set three 25-19 in Army's favor with a kill form Murakami.

The Mountain Hawks mounted a resistance in the fourth frame, taking brief leads up through 10-9 before a trio of kills from the combined hands of Lynch and Wallace sparked Army's flame once more and pushed Army back into the lead. Back-to-back blocks for the Black Knights battered Lehigh's offense, giving Army the space to open up a 21-16 lead that was quickly capitalized on by Army's pin hitters as Murakami, Lynch, and Wallace each contributed kills that saw the Black Knights clinch the fourth set 25-19, the match 3-1, and their place in the 2024 Patriot League tournament.

Black Knight Bullet Points

Friday night's win makes Head Coach Alma Kovaci Lee the winningest coach in Army Volleyball program history as she now holds 327 career wins as Army Volleyball's head coach.
The Black Knights out-swung the Mountain Hawks 50-47, remaining more efficient in their attacks as Army posted a .218 team hitting percentage while Lehigh tallied a .155 team hitting percentage.
Junior Outside hitter Mackenzie Lynch recorded her third match of the season with 15 or more kills, and her 11^th match with 10 or more kills.
Freshman middle blocker Tatum Grimes gave a strong performance for the Black Knights, totaling five kills and a .333 hitting percentage while also adding six block assists to their tally.
Army controlled the serving and blocking game in Friday's match, earning seven service aces to Lehigh's five and 13.0 total blocks to Lehigh's 6.0.

Coach's Corner
On the match:
"I am very proud of our development. Lehigh is a very tough team, and we were able to control our emotions and be aggressive throughout the entire game," said Kovaci Lee. "Obviously there are times where neither team looked like themselves, but we were able to recover quickly and get back on track where in the beginning of the season that wouldn't have been the case. I'm very proud of our fight tonight – our outsides did a really good job today and we adjusted really well. Defensively, we had a lot more grit and our blocking looked really good. Our serve being so aggressive allowed our blocking to be as well. We might not have as many aces as we may like, but by being strategic and keeping other teams from passing on the net, we helped our blocking tonight. I really am just very, very proud of the way the team fought today, and I am proud of our coaching staff for doing each of their jobs and supporting our athletes so well. This is an entire team win and I'm proud of the development our team has had this year. Obviously, we are proud of the development our teams go through each year, but this year I can see us taking really good steps and I am proud of the effort we are putting in."

On what it means to break the All-Time Wins record with mentor Glen Conley in attendance:
"I thought it was really, really special to have Glen [Conley] here for this moment," Kovaci Lee said. "I will always say that the reason why I'm here is Glen. I mean, he took a chance on a 23-year-old who is not from this country – at a service academy which is not always a popular choice – and said 'I want this assistant. If I'm going to have one, it's going to be her.' He gave me a chance and he and his wife housed me for a few weeks until I was up on my feet and on my own. I learned to drive here and bought my first car here. Glen has given me a lot and it was emotional hearing him talk to the team because I owe a lot of this success to him for giving me that chance, for showing me the ropes in recruiting, for teaching me how the Academy works, and for always keeping It light. I owe a lot to Glen and his family."

On what breaking the All-Time Wins record means for her and the program:
"When I took over this program, I was really young," Kovaci Lee continued. "This program was already successful which is something owed to Glen, but it is also due to Bob Gambardella who is a legend not only at West Point, but in the sport of volleyball. So, when I knew when I took over that I had really big shoes to fill and having started as a young coach and having spent so much time with this program, I will always say that it is the blood, sweat, and tears shed over the 18 years of coaching of every staff member, every athletic trainer that has been part of the program, every administrator that has been part of the program, and, of course, the incredible athletes we have had throughout the years. This program was successful, has been successful, and will continue to be successful because of the people that come to West Point. I am very proud and very humbled to have the opportunity to lead at West Point.

Up Next
The Black Knights will turn their attention to Saturday, Nov. 9^th as they welcome the Bucknell Bison to Gillis Field House for a contest beginning at 4pm EST.

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.