Volleyball Wins Five Set Thriller Over Colgate, Advances to Championship Game

Friday, November 21

Washington, D.C.

3 p.m.

Army West Point

19-8,11-5Patriot

Colgate

18-10,13-3Patriot

Army West Point

Colgate

Volleyball Wins Five Set Thriller Over Colgate, Advances to Championship Game

November 21, 2025 | Volleyball

Box Score Box Score (PDF)

WASHINGTON, D.C. – For the second consecutive season, the Army West Point volleyball team will play for a trip to the NCAA Tournament, after defeating No. 2 seed Colgate in a five-set thriller on Friday night at Bender Arena in the semifinals of the Patriot League Tournament.

Army (19-8) jumped ahead 2-0 but Colgate (18-10) didn't go down without a fight, as it won sets three and four to force a winner-take-all fifth set, which the Black Knights came out on top in. Army's win snapped Colgate's streak of four consecutive tournament championships.

The Black Knights had three players record double-digit kills and were led by Mackenzie Lynch and her career-high 25 kills. Friday marked the fourth time this season that Lynch had 20-plus kills.

Army won the match 25-22, 25-23, 23-25, 19-25, 15-11.

How it Happened
The Black Knights got off to a strong start thanks to timely hitting and strong defensive play and quickly found itself ahead 7-3. Colgate, however, seemed to settle and went on an 11-3 run to take a 14-10 lead.

The Raiders extended their lead to 18-14 and looked well on their way to winning the opening frame. But that proved to not be the case, as Army exploded on a 7-0 run thanks to three blocks, two kills and two aces to regain a 21-18 lead and force Colgate to take a timeout. Army did not trail for the remainder of the set, and a Corrine Blackburn kill gave Army the 1-0 match advantage.

Four Black Knights recorded three kills in the set, while the defense added four blocks. Colgate hit just .062 in the opening frame.

Army carried the momentum from the first set, as the Black Knights did not trail once in the second set en route to grabbing a 2-0 lead. While Army was never behind, the two teams did trade points for most of the frame, with Army leading 15-13 at the media timeout.

The two teams were tied at 20-20 and that's when the Black Knights took over. Lynch had three kills over the final stretch of the second set, including one to get Army to the set point. Michelle Parker finished things off with a kill to give Army a commanding 2-0 lead going into the extended break. Lynch led the way with nine kills on 18 swings, while Chloe Murakami had five.

The two teams now found itself in familiar territory, as just earlier this season Army was down 2-0 to Colgate and successfully pulled off the reverse sweep, something that the Raiders were looking to do on Friday.

Much like the second, the third set was back and forth until the very end. The two teams were tied at 15-15 halfway through the set and that remained until the final few points. Army, who called a timeout down 23-22, leveled things back up after a Lynch kill. However, Colgate scored the next two points off a kill and block to close out the set and cut the Army lead in half. Neither team played very well in offensively in the frame, as both sat under .200 in hitting.

The fourth frame was the most lopsided of the five sets but was still filled with action. The two sides traded the first few points to make it 3-3 but Colgate caught fire and went on a 7-2 run to take a 10-5 lead and it would retain that lead for the remainder of the set. Army was able to cut it down to 20-17 but the Raiders responded with a 3-0 run to take a commanding 23-17 advantage.

It was the best overall stretch of play for the defending champions, as the Raiders hit .333 while holding the Black Knights to .027.

This meant the match would come down to a winner-take-all fifth set. The Black Knights opened the final period in strong fashion, jumping ahead 4-2 – a lead it didn't relinquish for the remainder of the match. Lynch was an absolute force in the final set recording six kills on 10 swings. With Army leading 11-10, Lynch recorded back-to-back kills to give Army a commanding 13-10 advantage. Murakami recorded a kill to get Army to the set point, and the Black Knights sealed the deal on a Colgate service error.

Black Knight Bullet Points
• Mackenzie Lynch recorded a career-high 25 kills on .241 hitting to lead the Black Knights. It marked the fourth time this seasons she has recorded at least 20 kills in a match. Her previous career high was 24 against Navy on Nov. 1.
• In addition to Lynch, Michelle Parker (14) and Chloe Murakami (13) also recorded double figure kills. Parker was especially efficient at .478 hitting.
• Michelle Parker's 14 kills were a career-high and just the second time she has recorded double-digit kills in her career. She had 10 against Navy on Sept. 19.
• Juliette Myrick led the passing game for Army with 34 assists. Naomi Chinchar added 22 assists.
• Army finished the night hitting .201, recording 67 kills on 169 attempts.
• Defensively, Army limited Colgate to .212 hitting. The Black Knights had 9.0 team blocks, with Michelle Parker leading the way with four.
• Nicole Stroud led Army with 17 digs, while Juliette Myrick (14) and Chloe Murakami (11) also had double-digit digs.

Up Next
Army will look to punch its ticket to the NCAA Tournament on Sunday afternoon as it will battle top-seeded American at 3 p.m. The game will be broadcast on ESPN+.