ANNAPOLIS, Md. – Army West Point Volleyball continued its road trip on Oct. 26 with a marquee matchup at the home of familiar foe, Navy. The Black Knights battled back from a deficit in the first set and delivered commanding performances in the following two frames to secure their second win (26-24, 25-19, 25-19) over the Midshipmen this season.
Senior rightside hitter Kingsley Wallace led the match in kills, closely followed by Mackenzie Lynch, who tied with a Navy attacker for the second-highest tally in the match as Wallace tallied 11 kills and Lynch logged 10.
Setter Juliette Myrick continued her impressive sophomore campaign with a match-leading 32 assists in the contest while also picking up a team-high 13 digs over three sets of action.
Army’s middles put in good work for the Black Knights as Tatum Grimes put down six kills on a .200 hitting percentage while Victoria Kasanganay record four kills with zero errors for a team and match-high .444 hitting percentage. The duo maintained a solid block for Army’s front row as Kasanganay claimed six blocks in the contest – including her fourth solo block of the season – and Grimes gathered four blocks of her own.
With the squad’s 53rd all-time win over Navy, Head Coach Alma Kovaci Lee moves up to 325 total wins in her time as Army Volleyball’s head coach. Kovaci Lee’s new total puts her just one win away from tying the all-time wins record in Army Volleyball program history, currently held by Bob Gambardella with 326 wins.
Black Knight Bullet Points
Army dominated the stats page, besting Navy in kills (44 to 37), hitting percentage (.208 to 157), assists (40 to 33), digs (50 to 44), but most especially in service aces (six to four) and blocking (11 to four).
Three Black Knights claimed two service aces in the match – Lynch, Chloe Murakami, and Nicole Stroud.
Myrick and Stroud both collected double-digit digs with 13 digs for Myrick and 11 digs for Stroud.
Match Reactions
"We are so proud of our team! They believed in themselves and played for each other tonight and that made for a really special match to watch tonight for Army Volleyball." – Kovaci Lee.
"Beating Navy is not just about the final score, but about the determination, teamwork and resilience that brought us here. We faced Navy and emerged stronger together! It’s a proud moment for our team and a testament to our hard work and commitment." – Wallace.
"Beating Navy is always so special, and tonight was just the same. We jumped on them from the beginning, and everyone just did their jobs extremely well, which kept the momentum on our side of the net the entire game. This was a whole team win and I'm just so grateful to be a part of it!" – Myrick.