Bucknell University Athletics
Bucknell University
Army
Volleyball Falls 3-1 to Army in Patriot League Opener
9/19/2014 10:39:00 PM | Volleyball
LEWISBURG, Pa. – The Bucknell volleyball team turned in a dominant first set in its Patriot League opener against visiting Army on Friday night at Davis Gym, but the Black Knights reeled off wins in three straight sets for the 3-1 victory.
With the score tied 9-9 in the opening set, Bucknell (1-8, 0-1 PL) won 16 of the final 21 points for a 25-14 victory. The Bison used a balanced attack during the set with Erika Eastley and Hailey Stout leading the way with three kills apiece. Eastley and Jordan Walker had three blocks, while Meghan Wentzel tallied eight assists.
The Black Knights went on to win the next three sets 25-21, 25-23, 25-17 to improve to 5-9 overall and 1-1 in conference play.
Stout paced the Bison with 10 kills and 13 digs. Walker finished with nine kills, seven digs and four blocks, and Eastley recorded nine kills and five blocks. Meghan Wentzel contributed 26 assists and seven digs.
A back-and-forth third set proved to be the turning point in the match. Bucknell took a 14-10 lead on three straight Army attack errors, and still held the lead as late as 19-18 following another attack error. Trailing 24-21, the Bison scored back-to-back points on a kill by Wentzel and yet another Black Knights' attack error to give themselves one last chance, but a service error ended the set and put them down two sets to one.
Army received outstanding performances from both Vanessa Edwards and Carolyn Bockrath. Edwards finished with 49 assists, seven kills and 10 digs, while Bockrath registered 17 kills, four blocks and four digs. Amber Clay and Nicole Perri joined Bockrath in double digits with 10 kills apiece.
Bucknell returns to action on Saturday against another Patriot League opponent. The Bison will host Holy Cross at 5 p.m. in Davis Gym. The Crusaders dropped to 2-9 overall and 1-1 in the conference with a 3-0 loss to Lehigh on Friday night.
