Army Claims Volleyball Star

WEST POINT, N.Y. – Army volleyball welcomed familiar foe Navy to Gillis Arena Friday night for the 43rd iteration of the Star Match as part of the 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 31st Star Match win and earning their first Patriot League victory of the season.

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.