Clark's 17 Kills Lifts Army To 3-0 Win Over Holy Cross

Sophomore Jamie Clark smacked a match-high 17 kills and hit .583 for the match to lead the Army volleyball team to a 3-0 sweep (30-24, 30-16, 30-16) over visiting Holy Cross in a Patriot League match Saturday afternoon at Gillis Field House. Army improves to 19-7 overall and 9-3 in the Patriot League, while the Crusaders drop to 4-19 overall, 2-10 in the conference. The win also clinches a spot in the four-team Patriot League Championship for the Black Knights.

Army raced out to a commanding 8-3 lead to open the match but five straight points by the Crusaders narrowed the margin to two points. Holy Cross eventually evened the game at 15-15 but the Black Knights got a kill from Anne Fields and two consecutive service aces from Clark to regain the lead and never looked back. Fields collected kills on six of her nine errorless attacks, while Clark drilled five kills on eight of her attempts. In the second game, the Black Knights were unable to stretch their lead to more than three points until midway through the match. In fact, the two teams stayed within contention of each other until Army reeled off five straight points to go up 24-14. Army scored the final two points of the match to close it out and give the Black Knights a 2-0 edge in the match.

The Black Knights jumped ahead early in game three, but Holy Cross rallied for three straight points to make the score 6-5. Later, clinging to a 12-8 lead, the Black Knights went on a 10-4 run and saw their lead balloon to 22-12. The Crusaders never recovered and Army went on to seal the match with a 30-16 win in game three.

Clark eclipsed 17 kills on 24 attacks with three errors for a .583 hitting percentage and picked up five service aces. Elizabeth Lazzari also finished with 11 kills and a .409 hitting percentage and chipped in 13 digs for a “double-double”, while Fields notched nine kills, five digs and two blocks. Danielle Cooper slammed six kills and posted three blocks, while Eileen Cassidy totaled six kills and nine digs. Maureen Bannon totaled 29 assists and three blocks to go along with three aces, and Malissa Gallini chipped in a personal-best 20 assists.

The Black Knights return to action on Friday, Nov. 10, when they travel to Lehigh at 7 p.m.

Photo: Jamie Clark Photo Courtesy: AAC