Volleyball Preview: Army Invitational
The UConn Huskies travel to West Point, N.Y., to compete in the Army Invitational, where they’re poised to compete against St. Francis, Kansas and Army. The Huskies are coming off their first victory of the year against Duquesne and are looking to get on a hot streak in this tournament. The Huskies will start the weekend on Sept. 2 at 4 p.m. against St. Francis.
The Terriers are set to face UConn in the first game of this tournament. St. Francis is coming off a 3-0 loss against Fordham despite Penelope Rivera and Camelia Melendez’s efforts to lead the team with 14 and 11 kills. Following the first week of the 2022 season, Rivera was named a Northeast Conference Prime Performer. The right-side hitter posted 29 kills, 12 digs and four blocks through three games in New Hampshire. Rivera is a player to look out for in the tournament opener against UConn.
In the next game, the Kansas women’s volleyball team will take on the Huskies on Saturday at 11 a.m. The player to look out for on the Jayhawks is sophomore Camryn Turner. In 10 sets and three matches, Turner collected 108 assists and averaged 10.80 assists per set. She had 28 assists against Utah Valley, a .596 assist percentage and recorded one kill. Turner heated up against No. 22 Utah when she had 40 assists and three kills in KU’s 3-1 victory at the Utah Classic. After her impressive performance and being named the Utah classic most valuable player, Turner is someone to watch out for in the Black Knights Invitational.
In the tournament’s final game, UConn will face Army on Saturday at 7 a.m. The Black Knights are looking to bounce back in their home court following a loss to San Diego State that puts them at 0-3 on the season. Army’s attacking errors contributed to their recent loss, so they’ll look to clean it up once they face the Huskies. Two players to keep an eye out for are Savannah Bray and Diana Ethridge. Bray is the team leader with 30 kills, and Ethridge leads the squad in assists with 116. The last time the Huskies faced Army was in 2016, when they won 3-1.
UConn is familiar with St. Francis and Army as they played both in the 2016 season and won each time, but this will be the first time they meet the Jayhawks. A few players to look out for on the Huskies are Allie Garland, who leads the team in kills with 16, Karly Berkland with 25 digs on the season so far, and Madi Whitmire heading the team with 59 assists.
