WEST POINT, N.Y. - For the first time in eight years, the Patriot League Volleyball Tournament has moved out of our nation’s capitol. By virtue of a second-straight regular-season title (share in 2008), Army will host this year’s tournament at historic West Point. Top-seeded Army will take on Lehigh in Saturday's first semifinal at 4 p.m. All matches will be played at Gillis Field House and are free of charge.

SATURDAY-SUNDAY, NOV. 21-22 • 4 P.M.
GILLIS FIELD HOUSE (2,000)

HOW TO FOLLOW
Television: None
Radio: None
Internet (Video & Audio):
    www.goARMYsports.com
    www.patriotleague.com
    Play-by-Play: Cody Chrusciel
Live Stats: www.goARMYsports.com (click here)
Twitter: www.twitter.com/ArmyAthletics

PROMOTIONS
Free Raffle: Open to cadets and general public (including ODIA employees). Fill out a free raffle ticket throughout the weekend for a chance to win either a 32" flatscreen HDTV, 8GB iPod nano or a 5-megapixel digital camcorder. Attendees may enter by filling out the available raffle tickets at Gillis during any one of the three matches. The winners will be drawn during the break (between sets two and three) in Sunday's championship match. Winners must be present to win.

THE COACHES
Alma Kovaci, Army
    at Army: 74-13 (.851), Third season
    Career: Same
    Patriot League: 37-5 (.881)

Barry Goldberg, American
    at American: 515-198 (.722), 21st season
    Career: Same
    Patriot League: 120-6 (.952)

Ryan Baker, Colgate
    at Colgate: 61-54 (.530), Fourth season
    Career: 83-65 (.561), Fifth season
    Patriot League: 37-19 (.661)

Jenny Maurer, Lehigh
    at Lehigh: 27-58 (.318), Third season
    Career: Same
    Patriot League: 12-30 (.286)

INSIDE THE SERIES
Army vs. Lehigh
Series Record: Army leads, 24-13
Current Streak: Army, 12 matches
Last Army win: 3-1 (11/14/09)
Last Lehigh win: 3-0 (11/8/03)

Army vs. American
Series Record: American leads, 21-4
Current Streak: American, 1 match
Last Army win: 3-2 (10/16/09)
Last American win: 3-1 (11/7/09)

Army vs. Colgate
Series Record: Army leads, 30-21
Current Streak: Army, 2 matches
Last Army win: 3-2 (10/23/09)
Last Colgate win: 3-0 (11/21/08)*

* 2008 Patriot League Tournament semis

SETTING THE STAGE
For the first time in eight years, the Patriot League Volleyball Tournament has moved out of our nation’s capitol. By virtue of a second-straight regular-season title (share in 2008), Army will host this year’s tournament at historic West Point on the banks of the Hudson River.

The top-seeded Black Knights will face No. 4 Lehigh in Saturday’s first semifinal match at 4 p.m. No. 2 American and No. 3 Colgate will square-off at 6 p.m. The championship match is set to be played on Sunday at 4 p.m. with the Patriot League’s automatic bid to the NCAA Tournament on the line. All matches will be played at Gillis Field House.

CLEANING UP
When the Patriot League announced its all-league teams and major award winners on Tuesday, Army cleaned up. The Black Knights led all schools with four all-league players and collected four of the five major awards.

Player of the Year: Ariana Mankus (Army)*
Setter of the Year: Maureen Bannon (Army)
Defensive Player of the Year: Emma Melendez (Lehigh)
Rookie of the Year: Ariana Mankus (Army)*
Coach of the Year: Alma Kovaci (Army)

* First player in Patriot League history to garner Player and Rookie of the Year in the same season.

First Team
Maureen Bannon - S
Ariana Mankus - OH

Second Team
Amanda Rowell - MB
Francine Vasquez - RS

IN IT TO WIN IT
Army has been pushed to five sets six times this year. Remarkably, the Black Knights are undefeated in those matches to include wins over Manhattan, then-No. 19 Pepperdine, Binghamton, American and Colgate.

GOING FOR #75
Third-year head coach Alma Kovaci has a chance to pick up her 75th career win this weekend. Sitting on a 74-13 record heading into the tournament, Kovaci’s 75th win would be done faster than any other coach in Army volleyball history. Long-time head coach Bob Gambardella (1983-1995), who coincidently coached Kovaci when she was a player at Temple, went 71-33 in his first three seasons at the Academy.

HEALTHY AT LAST
After playing through the majority of the Patriot League regular season with a bundle of injuries and health issues, the Black Knights are finally at full-strength and it couldn’t have come at a better time. Senior S Maureen Bannon re-aggravated an ankle injury against Bucknell (Oct. 24) and missed the next four matches. She returned against Lehigh last Saturday and collected her 12th double-double (27 assists, 17 digs) of the season. Sophomore MB Rachel Willis also missed four contests due to a knee injury. Junior MB Amanda Rowell did not play when Army hosted American (Oct. 16) due to illness, leaving senior captain Rachel Dunn to step in and play middle for the first time in her volleyball career. Dunn totaled seven kills and five blocks in the 3-2 win.

DEFENSE! DEFENSE!
Head coach Alma Kovaci has utilized two liberos in 2009. Sophomore Liberty McEntee played the majority of the non-conference slate in the opposite colored jersey, while junior Brittany Jensen has taken over since then. Averaging 2.98 and 2.82 digs per set, respectively, the duo is a major reason for Army holding opponents to a conference-best .155 hitting percentage.

ROWELL PICKS UP NATIONAL HONOR
Junior MB Amanda Rowell amassed a career-high 17 kills in Army’s 3-1 win over Lehigh last Saturday and she’s been rewarded for her efforts ever since. Named Patriot League Player of the Week on Monday, Rowell earned College Volleyball Update’s National Player of the Week honors the following afternoon.

OH CAPTAIN, MY CAPTAIN
Senior OH/MB Rachel Dunn was selected to serve as the 2009 team captain. She has started all but three matches this season and is averaging 1.94 kills per set.

THIS IS NO BEGINNER’S LUCK
Army has relied on the development and contributions of freshmen OH Ariana Mankus and RS Francine Vasquez all season long. The pair stepped into a starting role in their first match in the Black, Gold and Gray and have delivered ever since. Both tabbed with All-Patriot League honors last week, Mankus became the first player in league history to garner Player and Rookie of the Year in the same season. She heads into the weekend as the league’s top hitter, averaging 3.64 kills per set. Vasquez, a second team all-league pick, owns a 2.36 kills-per-set mark.

FABULOUS FABBY
Sophomore OH Fabiola Castro has turned things up a notch during Patriot League play. Averaging 2.66 kills per set overall and 2.80 kps against conference opponents, Castro has established herself as a vital part of Army’s attack. She has reached double-figures in kills eight times this season with six of those efforts coming against Patriot League competition. She totaled a career-high 20 kills in a tough 3-1 loss at American on Nov. 7.

WINNING TRADITION
Making its 11th-straight appearance in the Patriot League Tournament, Army has averaged nearly 25 wins a game during head coach Alma Kovaci’s tenure. The Black Knights have not had a losing season since 2002.

FIRST ROUND FLOPS
Army has entered the last two Patriot League Tournaments with the strongest records in program history (24-5 in 2007; 26-4 in 2008) but has been upset in the opening round both years. Colgate did the damage both times as the No. 3 seed, sending No. 2 Army packing. Colgate and American have met in the last two title matches with American winning both contests. That will not be the case this season, as American and Colgate square-off in Saturday’s second semifinal (6 p.m.)

HOME COOKING
Army enters this weekend’s tournament with an incredible 14-1 record when playing at home. That mark includes four wins that came at Christl Arena - the home of Army basketball - during the West Point Challenge (Sept. 18 & 20). During head coach Alma Kovaci’s three years at the helm, Army has lost a total of just three matches at home - one each in 2007, 2008 and 2009.

AMONG THE NATION’S BEST
According to the latest NCAA statistics, Army is 20th in the nation in W-L percentage (24-5). Individually, senior S Maureen Bannon ranks 43rd with a 0.41 aces-per-set average. She also ranks 80th in assists per set (10.27), while freshman OH Ariana Mankus lands 97th in kills (3.64).

SET ME UP
Stepping in when four-year starter S Maureen Bannon went down with an injury in late October, junior S Karyn Powell and senior S Malissa Gallini stepped in to fill the void. When Bannon returned in Army’s regular-season finale against Lehigh last Saturday, Powell and Bannon split time at setter.

IN SEARCH OF A TITLE
Army will begin its quest for a fourth Patriot League title this weekend. Should Army come out victorious, it would be the program’s first title since 1994. The Black Knights won three times in the 1990s under then-head coach Bob Gambardella, finishing on top in 1991, 1992 and 1994. All three of those titles, however, were won prior to the Patriot League securing an automatic bid to the NCAA Tournament. Should Army survive in 2009, the team would make the program’s first trip to the NCAAs.

DOUBLE THE FUN
Senior S Maureen Bannon leads all players with 12 double-doubles (assists, digs) this season. the Manhattan Beach, Calif., native owns a massive 35 double-doubles during her decorated career.

TOPPING 20
Freshman OH Ariana Mankus has reached the 20-kill plateau six times this season. Her career-high 26 kills came in Army’s 3-2 win over American on Oct. 16. The five-time Rookie of the Week is averaging 3.74 kills per set during Patriot League play.

THE MATCH-UPS
Army vs. Lehigh
Army and Lehigh will meet in the Patriot League Tournament for the fourth time, with Army holding a 2-1 edge. Both of Army’s tournament victories over the Mountain Hawks came in the semifinals, while Lehigh claimed its first League title in 1993 with a win over the Black Knights. Army swept the Mountain Hawks this season, winning 3-1 in both contests. Three-time Patriot League Setter of the Year Maureen Bannon dishes out 10.27 assists per set. She notched 11.21 assists per set in Patriot League play. Angelika Kopacz leads the Patriot League with 41 service aces, as the Mountain Hawks have a League-best 179 aces.

2009 Regular-Season Series
Friday, Oct. 2 (Bethlehem, Pa.) - Army, W, 3-1
Saturday, Nov. 14 (West Point, N.Y.) - Army, W, 3-1

Army vs. American
Army and American clashed in five straight Patriot League Tournaments, starting in 2001. American won all five meetings, including three championship duels. The teams split this year’s regular season series, with each team winning on its home court. In Patriot League play, American hit a League-best .281 while limiting its foes to a League-low .130 hitting percentage. American senior Claire Recht has a league-best 103 blocks, including 60 in Patriot League contests.

2009 Regular-Season Series
Friday, Oct. 16 (West Point, N.Y.) - Army, W, 3-2
Saturday, Nov. 7 (Washington, D.C.) - American, W, 3-1

Army vs. Colgate
Army and Colgate have met nine times in the Patriot League Tournament, including four times in the Patriot League Championship. The two teams collided in each of the first five Patriot League Tournaments, including four of the first five title tilts. Colgate holds a 5-4 advantage over the Black Knights in the Patriot League Tournament, including semifinals wins in each of the past two seasons, though Army holds a 3-1 edge in championship matches. In the regular season, Army won both matches against the Raiders this season. Colgate ranks in the top half of the Patriot League in every major statistical category. The Raiders are second in digs with 14.33 per set. Devon Applegate leads the League with 415 digs, including 221 in Patriot League matches.

2009 Regular-Season Series
Saturday, Sept. 26 (Hamilton, N.Y.) - Army, W, 3-1
Friday, Oct. 23 (West Point, N.Y.) - Army, W, 3-2