Volleyball Claims 2024 Star Match with Dramatic Five Set Win Over Navy

Friday, September 27

West Point, NY

7:00 PM

Army West Point

5-7,1-2Patriot

Navy

0-12,0-3Patriot

Navy

Army West Point

Volleyball Claims 2024 Star Match with Dramatic Five Set Win Over Navy

September 27, 2024 | Volleyball

Box Score Photo Gallery

WEST POINT, N.Y. – Army volleyball welcomed familiar foe Navy to Gillis Arena Friday night for the 43^rd iteration of the Star Match as part of the Army-Navy Star Series, presented by USAA. The Black Knights delivered a grit-filled performance to claim the win over five sets of action.

Army's squad hit the ground running in front of a near-capacity crowd at Gillis Field House, quickly snapping up the first two sets 25-19 and 25-19. The Mids found their feet in the later sets, however, and controlled the pace of sets three and four to bring the match tied at 2-2 all.

Navy's squad racked up an early lead in the tiebreak set before the Black Knights pushed ahead at the eight-point mark to force the two to switch sides. Army's squad stumbled as the set wore on and Navy earned a match point opportunity at 14-12 before the Black Knights demonstrated their formidable grit and surged forward to claim the fifth set win at 17-15, cementing their 31^st Star Match win and earning their first Patriot League victory of the season.

Match Recap
The Black Knights struck quickly in the opening points of the match, quickly surging ahead to an 8-3 lead on a slate of kills from three different Army players, a trio of errors from Navy, and a block from Mackenzie Lynch.

Army's squad continued to press their advantage, extending their lead to six points with a pair of back-to-back kills from Kingsley Wallace to bring the match to 15-9.

Channeling the effusive energy in Gillis Field House, the Black Knights continued to out-fox the Mids left and right all the way up to set point on a kill from Tatum Grimes.

Navy's squad pushed back as the second frame began, opening up a 6-1 lead off of a run of errors from the Black Knights before Army caught the Mids zat 12-12 and pushed up to a 18-13 lead with a 8-1 run highlighted by kills from Chloe Murakami and Wallace.

A trio of attack errors and an ace from the Mids brought the visitors within one point of Army's lead before the Black Knights hit their groove once more and put together a 6-1 run to claim the second set 25-19.

With both teams hitting stride, set three got off to a contentious start as the teams traded blows until Navy found their stride and collected a 9-1 run to open up a 15-6 differential.

The Black Knights fought to regain ground and end the match in three sets but the Mids kept the pressure high and claimed set three at 25-19.

Navy took off like a shot in the start of set four, picking up three kills in three points to open the scoring, surging to a 10-5 lead on a kill and an ace.

The Black Knights drew from the crowd's energy to make a push to catch the Mids, pulling within one point at 14-13 before Navy opened the gap once more to a 19-13 difference. Army closed the gap once more with kills from their front row to pull within one point for the second time at 21-20.

Chloe Murakami then hammered home a kill off of a set from freshman setter Naomi Chinchar to bring the two teams tied, recovering from and Army service error to bring things tied again at 22-22 with another kill.

A pair of Black Knight attacks that landed just wide of the court gave Navy a set point opportunity that Juliette Myrick delayed with a kill before a mishandled ball clinched the fourth set for the Mids.

The two teams battled for dominance from the first whistle of the tiebreak set, hitting ties at 1-1, 2-2, 3-3, 4-4, and 5-5 before the Back Knights put up a pair of kills back-to-back from Gimes and Myrick game Army the edge at 7-5.

Army earned eight points first in the set on a kill from Myrick, making the two teams change sides where Kealakai Bandy put up a kill for the Black Knights to put Army up 9-6.

The Mids would not go quietly, however, and pieced together a 7-2 run to earn the first match point opportunity of the night at 14-12.

Army would not be outdone in their own gym though, and kills from Myrick and Murakami, along with a Navy attack error, put Army up to a 15-14 lead and the second match-point opportunity of the night.

Navy's squad nabbed a block to bring things tied, but with the crowd behind them, the momentum belonged entirely to the Black Knights.

Murakami brought Army to their second match point opportunity of the night with a kill to capitalize on a long rally before freshman Victoria Filippova ended another knockdown drag-out rally with a decisive overpass kill to secure Army's first chance to sing second after Navy of the 2024-25 season.

Black Knight Bullet Points

The win marks Army's 54^th win over Navy since the two first clashed in 1981. Army improves to 15-3 when facing the Mids at home.
Of the 43 Star Matches on the books, Army now holds 31 wins over the course of the series.
With the win, Army moves to 1-2 in Patriot League play and 5-7 overall so far this season. Head Coach Alma Kovaci Lee now boasts a 320-173 overall record at Army's helm, just six wins away from tying the Army Volleyball all-time wins record, currently held by Bob Gambardella (1983-1995).
Chloe Murakami and Mackenzie Lynch led the match in kills with 15 and 14 respectively.
The Black Knights' freshmen middles produced well for Army in the match as Tatum Grimes clocked nine kills on a .241 hitting percentage, Victoria Kasanganay putup three kills on a .200 hitting percentage, and Victoria Filippova put up two kills on two attempts for a 1.000 hitting percentage with the match-winning point coming from an overpass kill by Filippova.
Juliette Myrick delivered for the Black Knights, dishing out 34 assists and picking up 15 digs, tying for the second-most digs amongst Army's players.
Army's squad shared the defensive load, totaling 13.0 total blocks, including four solo blocks, and a season-high 93 digs. Five Black Knights delivered double-digit digs for the squad – Chloe Murakami (19), Juliette Myrick (15), Nicole Stroud (15), Mackenzie Lynch (14), Naomi Chinchar (12).

Coach's Corner
"I am really proud of our fight today," said Head Coach Alma Kovaci Lee. "Navy fought hard and really wanted this match, but our young team came throughand stayed tough through all of the changes that Navy threw our way. Keala[kai Bandy] came in for Kingsley [Wallace] and just put on a show. It is great to see her perform in matches like the Army-Navy Match."

"I thought our outsides did a much better job today," continued Kovaci Lee. "Kingsley has been carrying us a lot so far this season, so it is nice to know that new players can step up and produce to make up for the kills and blocks that Kingsley usually gives us."

"We also saw some great work from Norah Shattan at the serving line," Kovaci Lee added. "Noreah was calm, cool, and collected throughout the match and kept serving tough with no room for mistakes. Even after Navy took a timeout during one of her runs, she stayed mentally tough and did her job. We're very proud of her."

"The crowd was electric throughout the whole match and we definitely felt the love today," Kovaci Lee finished. "Many thanks to our athletic staff, incredible cadets, and our community for being here to support us today. Beat Navy!"

Up Next
Army will next welcome the Loyola Maryland Greyhounds to Gillis Field House on Saturday, Sept. 28^th for a matchup beginning at 4:00pm ET.

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.