Bucknell University Athletics
Bucknell University
Army*
Bucknell Volleyball Nipped by Army, 3-2
11/12/2004 7:00:00 AM | Volleyball
Nov. 12, 2004
LEWISBURG, Pa. - Jackie Leahy moved into third place on Bucknell's career kills list with 1,147 as she tallied a game-high 21 kills, but it wasn't enough as the Bison volleyball team dropped a 3-2 decision to Army in front of 300 raucous fans at Davis Gym Friday evening.
After winning the first game handily, Bucknell (13-12, 7-6 Patriot League) dropped three of the final four frames. The Bison lost their second consecutive match to the Black Knights (16-8, 11-2 PL) by scores of 21-30, 30-16, 30-18, 31-33 and 15-13.
It appeared as though Army had the match sealed up as it held a 24-19 lead in the fourth game, but Bucknell stormed back to tie the score at 30-30 before winning the game 33-31. In the fifth game, the Bison jumped out to an early 6-2 lead. They held an 11-8 advantage before the Black Knights reeled off five consecutive points to take a 13-11 lead. After equaling the score at 13 all, Bucknell gave up a pair of points to Army.
Chelsea Robertson, who had 11 kills, joined Leahy as the only two Bison to record at least 10 kills. She also hit .259, second on the squad to Jessica Le's .400. As a team Bucknell hit just .091. Army managed to hit .155.
In addition to leading the team in hitting, Le recorded 50 assists to move into third place on Bucknell's single-season list with 977. She also tallied five service aces as the Bison totaled 11. The Black Knights also had 11 service aces, led by Abby Casciato's six.
Carolyn Dougherty and Kristen Sydlowski had solid matches as each registered 11 digs.
Caitlin Machon led Army with 20 kills, while Casciato dished out 36 assists. The Black Knights accumulated 12 blocks throughout the match, led by two solo and four assists from Danielle Cooper. Bucknell, which had five blocks, saw Amanda Grossman record three solo blocks.
Bucknell hosts Holy Cross Saturday afternoon at 4 p.m. at Davis Gym in its regular season finale. If the Bison win, they will earn a berth in the Patriot League Tournament. If Bucknell loses to the Crusaders in three games it will fail to qualify for the postseason based on the league's tiebreaking procedure. However, if the Bison fall in four or five games to Holy Cross they will earn their fifth consecutive postseason berth.
