Army West Point Athletics
Army West Point
NC State
Volleyball Set to Make 2025 Season Debut at Summit Hospitality Tournament
August 27, 2025 | Volleyball
WEST POINT, N.Y. — Army West Point volleyball will begin its 2025 season in Raleigh, North Carolina, on Friday at the Summit Hospitality Tournament, where it will take on host NC State, Akron and Green Bay in James T. Valvano Arena.
The Black Knights will face NC State for the first time in program history on Friday, Aug. 29, at 7 p.m. ET. The match will stream live on ACC Network Extra.
Army will then take on Akron for the first time since 2017 and for the third time in program history on Saturday, Aug. 30, at noon ET.
The Summit Hospitality Invitational will conclude on Sunday, Aug. 31, at noon ET when Army faces Green Bay for the first time in program history.
ARMY STORYLINES:
WHAT HAPPENED LAST SEASON: Army finished 16-12 overall and 10-6 in Patriot League play, earning the fourth seed in the Patriot League Tournament. The Black Knights advanced to the 2024 championship match before narrowly falling to top-seeded Colgate.
WINNINGEST HEAD COACH: Head coach Alma Kovaci Lee enters 2025 as the winningest coach in Army volleyball history with a 331-178 record. She set the mark in 2024 in her 18th season, surpassing Bob Gambardella's 326 career wins. Gambardella compiled a 326-166 record over 13 seasons.
ALL-LEAGUE HONORS: Senior outside hitter Mackenzie Lynch was named to the Patriot League 2025 Preseason All-League Team on Aug. 20. Four Black Knights earned All-Patriot League honors in 2024, including returners Lynch (first team), Juliette Myrick (second team) and Chloe Murakami (second team).
LOOK OUT FOR LYNCH: Lynch led Army in digs (360), reception attempts (628) and total attacks (953) in 2024. She ranked third on the team with a career-best 291 kills and set career highs in assists (31), aces (14), block assists (62) and total blocks (72).
PROLIFIC PLAYMAKER: Setter Juliette Myrick played in all 108 sets as a sophomore in 2024, averaging 7.37 assists per set. She recorded a career-high 46 assists vs. Colgate on Oct. 6, 2024, and accounted for 62% of Army's assists with 796 of the team's 1,282.
MURAKAMI MAGIC: Senior outside hitter Chloe Murakami ranked second on the team with 296 kills in 2024. She also finished with 594 receptions, 288 digs, 23 blocks, 23 assists and a team-leading 43 service aces.
CAN'T GET PAST GRIMES: Sophomore Tatum Grimes made an immediate impact as a freshman middle blocker in 2024, leading the team with 132 blocks (23 solo, 109 assists). Her total ranked third in the Patriot League and her solo block mark tied for 50th nationally.
DIGGING DEEP: Army recorded 1,694 digs in 2024, averaging 16.4 per set. Five players topped 200 digs: Lynch (360), Nicole Stroud (340), Myrick (311), Murakami (288) and Naomi Chinchar (226). All return in 2025.
WELCOME TO THE BLOCK PARTY: Army's squad was able to shut down their opponents in the 2024 season, totaling 277.5 total blocks compared to their opponents 211.0. Before the start of the 2024 NCAA tournament, their total stood 35th in team block totals in the NCAA ahead of programs including Pitt, Auburn, Nebraska, Penn State, Miami, and Ohio State.
ONE FOR THE YOUNG GUNS: Army's 22-member roster is one of the youngest in Division I, with 77.2% underclassmen. The team returns 10 sophomores and adds seven freshmen: Hannah Hankerson, Kennedy Jones, Nathalie Tulumaris, Annette Lee, Janie Deapen, Marin Harvey and Corrine Blackburn.
ORDER UP: The Black Knights posted 155 service aces in 2024. Six players reached double digits: Murakami (43), Chinchar (27), Myrick (26), Stroud (23), Norah Shattan (16) and Lynch (14). Ashli Alcala-Romero added five.
History with NC State
- This is the first ever meeting of these two teams in program history.
Scouting the Wolfpack
- NC State finished the 2024 season 16-13 with an 11-9 Atlantic Coast Conference (ACC) record. NC State's season came to a close in the first round of the NCAA tournament.
- The Wolfpack are under first year head coach Megan Wargo-Kearney, who was promoted from being NC State's associate head coach this past season.
- NC State was picked to finish tenth out of 18 teams in the stacked ACC, featuring volleyball powerhouses like Pitt, Louisville, Stanford and SMU.
- Courtney Bryant returns to NC State's roster, finishing 2024 second on the team in digs with 219 on the season and third in kills with 237. Sophie Groom also returns who finished 2024 with 85 blocks, the second most on the team last season.
History with Akron
- The series is tied, 1-1
- Current Streak: Army, 1 win
- Last Army win: Sept. 16 2017, 3-0
- Last Arkon win: Sept. 21 2002, 3-2
Scouting the Zips
- Akron finished the 2024 season 11-19 overall with an 7-11 Mid-American Conference (MAC) record. The Zips' season came to an end after the regular season, falling short of a MAC tournament appearance.
- The Zips are under four year head coach Tyson Norton, who holds a 30-58 record in his first three seasons at Akron.
- Akron was picked to finish tenth out of 12 teams in MAC play, which includes matchups with Bowling Green, Ball State and Central Michigan.
- The team sees the return of 2024 passing leader Vanessa Del Real, leading the team with 423 digs alongside a .944 reception percentage. Gabby Brissett also returns who finished the 2024 season with 207 kills.
History with Green Bay
- This is the first ever meeting of these two teams in program history.
Scouting the Phoenix
- Green Bay finished the 2024 season 16-17 with an 11-7 Horizon League record, good for fourth overall in the standings.
- In the 2024 Horizon League tournament, the Phoenix made a deep run to the championship match, upsetting No. 1 seed Wright State along the way before falling to Cleveland State in five sets.
- Head coach Abbey Sutherland returns for her 16th season at the helm. She currently holds a 305-175 record at Green Bay and has led Green Bay to back-to-back Horizon League championship appearances.
- Katie Schulz returns as the leading outside for Green Bay last season, finishing with 410 kills. Diane Pichelman, the 2024 blocking leader (104 total blocks) also returns, who also added 237 kills.
