After Action Report-Labor Day Weekend

In the first edition of the After Action Report, we will take a look at all of the non-football results from service academy athletics over the Labor Day weekend.

Each week, we will bring you a recap of what has taken place across the SA landscape and highlight some of the notable outcomes. We will also name our service academy athlete of the week.

Air Force:

Women’s Volleyball: The Air Force women’s volleyball team improved to 5-2 on the season after going 3-1 over the weekend. This included wins against Loyola MD (3-1) and Binghamton (3-0) in the Maverick Classic at UT-Arlington, as well as winning their first home match of the season on Monday against McNeese State (3-0). Their only loss of the weekend was against the hosts of the Maverick Classic, UT-Arlington which they dropped in straight sets 3-0. Junior Denise Ssozi led the way with double digit kills in each of the four matches.

Cross Country: Both the men’s and women’s cross country teams competed in the Wyoming Invitational over the weekend. The men, ranked 16th in the preseason, finished third overall and were paced by Trevor Siniscalchi, who posted the sixth best time individually. The women were led by Jaci Smith, who finished first in the meet against a field of 60 runners by nearly 13 seconds. Her dominant performance helped the team to a second place finish overall and earner her honors as the USTFCCCA D1 Women’s National Athlete of the Week!

Men’s Soccer: The men’s soccer team traveled to Maryland over the weekend and came away with a pair of 2-0 victories against Navy and UMBC. The victory over Navy gave them the first win towards our inaugural Ike Award and helped them improve to an overall record of 3-1 on the young season.

Waterpolo: The Air Force water polo team opened their season over the weekend by going 1-3 at the Triton Invitational in La Jolla, CA. They dropped contests against UC-San Diego, Loyola Marymount, and Cal, and outlasted Concordia 8-7 for their lone win. They will be headed to Princeton this weekend for the Princeton Tournament, which includes an Ike Award competition against the waterpolo team from the Naval Academy.

Army West Point:

Cross Country: Both the men’s and women’s cross country teams came away with dual meet victories at Maine over the weekend. Shelby Piccinic led the way for the women as Army took the top 11 spots overall in the meet. Army’s men were paced by a freshman in his first collegiate race. Marshall Beatty led the way in his debut, and the men as a whole got the top 6 spots in the race.

Women’s Volleyball: The women’s volleyball team hosted the West Point Invitational over the weekend. They went 2-1 over the course of the holiday weekend, securing wins against Albany (3-2) and Southeastern Louisiana (3-0) before dropping their final contest against Hofstra (0-3). Though they lost to Hofstra in straight sets, each set was close throughout and they gave The Pride all they could handle. Ana Oglivie and Courtney Horace were named to the all-tournament team.

Women’s Soccer: The women’s soccer team traveled to Arizona to face Northern Arizona and CSU Northridge over the weekend. They ended in a 0-0 draw against Northern Arizona and the match against CSU Northridge was cancelled following a two hour lightning delay.

Men’s Soccer: The men’s soccer team headed out west as well, flying across the country to San Diego and coming home with a dramatic 2-1 victory over San Diego State. Christian Takaki scored his first collegiate goal as he delivered the game winner in the 80th minute after the ball ricocheted off of the post. This performance earned him Patriot League Midfielder of the Week honors.

Navy:

Cross Country: The Navy men’s cross country team got their season underway with a second place showing in the Salisbury Fall Classic. They were led by freshman Ashwinn Briggs who finished fourth overall. The women’s team competed at the Bison Open, a 4,000 meter race that did not have team scoring. However, they still had a strong opening race as Grace West won the event by nearly 5.4 seconds over the field of 132 competitors.

Offshore Sailing: The Navy offshore sailing team got their season underway by competing in the Annapolis Labor Day Regatta. Six boats competed for the Mids with the Integrity placing 6th in the PHRF A2 Class.

Men’s Soccer: The Navy men’s soccer team hosted Air Force and College of Charleston over the weekend. In the first match of the season for our inaugural Ike Award, Air Force defeated Navy 2-0 on a beautiful night in Annapolis. We were on hand to witness:

Following that defeat, the Mids rebounded with a 1-1 draw against College of Charleston to close out their weekend at home.

Women’s Soccer: The Navy women’s soccer team traveled to North Carolina and competed to two draws, tying Gardner Webb 1-1 on Friday night and following that up with a 0-0 score in a weather shortened match against Western Carolina. Junior Baseley McClaskey scored the game-tying goal in the 40th minute against Gardner Webb and was awarded the Patriot League Defensive Player of the Week award for the second week in a row for her effort.

Women’s Volleyball: Navy hosted the Kristen Dickmann Invitational over the weekend, going 1-2 against some great competition in SEC opponent Alabama as well as Dartmouth and Villanova. Alabama defeated Navy 3 sets to 1 on Friday night, but the contest was neck and neck the entire way. After losing on Friday, the Mids split their Saturday matches, picking up a four set victory over Dartmouth before dropping a straight sets match against Villanova. Senior Patricia Mattingly was named to the all-tournament team for her outstanding work all weekend.

Waterpolo: The Navy waterpolo team opened their season by hosting the Navy Open and coming away with two close victories against Iona (9-7) and Fordham (8-7) while dropping a match against 13th ranked Princeton. Freshman Isaac Salinas picked up Collegiate Water Polo Association rookie of the week by scoring 9 points in his first series of collegiate matches over the weekend.

Service Academy Athlete of the Week: Jaci Smith, Air Force Women’s XC

The competition was tough across service academy athletics over the Labor Day weekend, as multiple student-athletes garnered national awards for their performances, but we have to give our inaugural Service Academy Athlete of the Week award to Jaci Smith. Her dominant win at the Wyoming Invitational earned her Air Force Cadet Athlete of the Week, Mountain West Women’s Runner of the Week and USTFCCCA D1 Women’s National Athlete of the Week and we don’t blame them for her selection. Beating the next runner by 13 seconds will get you some much deserved attention! Way to go Jaci!