Oct. 6, 2007
Box Score
WASHINGTON - The American University volleyball
team looked nearly unstoppable Saturday afternoon when they
steamrolled the visiting Bison of Bucknell, 3-0. The victory allows
AU to remain unbeaten on its home floor at Bender Arena and extends
the Eagles' winning streak to nine matches. American is now 13-6 on
the season and a perfect 5-0 in the Patriot League.
The Eagles defeated the Bison by scores of 30-20, 30-20 and
30-20. The win was highlighted by AU's best offensive performance
of the season. As a team, the Eagles hit for a .471 percentage with
55 kills and a season-low six errors. On the other side of the net,
Bucknell was held to just a .099 percentage and committed 21
errors. American blocked 8.5 shots while the Bison blocked none.
Junior Rubena
Sukaj (Tirana, Albania/Asim Vokshi) notched her sixth
kills-digs double-double of the season Saturday. The outside hitter
had a match high 18 kills and 10 digs and topped that off by adding
three aces and three block assists. Chelsa Brooks
(Hilliard, Ohio/Hilliard Darby) followed up her strong game against
Colgate the previous night with an equally impressive showing again
Bucknell. The senior laced eight kills on 14 attempts for a .571
percentage and was also credited with two blocks and four digs. Claire Recht
(Canby, Ore./La Salle) recorded a .636 hitting percentage with
seven kills while tallying six block assists and Ivana Cebakova
(Brno, Czech Republic/Ludvika Danka) impressed fans with her all
around hustle en route to notching 19 digs.
Both AU's offense and defense were on display in game one, as
the Eagles recorded a .359 percentage and 5.5 blocks. Sukaj was
five of 13 on the attack while Julia Borecka
(Bielsko-Biala, Poland/Iliceum IM. Mikoaja Kopernika) was four of
12. Six Eagles recorded blocks in the frame led by Recht's three
block assists and Cebakova tallied a match high nine digs.
American's offense only improved from that point on. Its game
two hitting percentage rose to .516, connecting on 17 kills while
making just one error. Sukaj was an amazing eight of 11 in game two
and also recorded four digs. Brooks was just as hot in the stanza
as she hit for a .800 percentage. Four others chipped in with kills
of their own as AU took a two game advantage on Bucknell.
In game three, the Eagles hit a match high 21 kills on 34
attempts. Their .559 percentage was highlighted by perfect
performances from Recht (3-3) and Ann Recht (Canby,
Ore./La Salle) (2-2), as well as by Sukaj who smashed five kills on
seven attempts. AU tallied four aces in the frame as well with two
coming off the strong right arm of Christina Nash
(Princeton, Fla./Coral Reef).
The Eagles return to action next weekend as they host a pair of
Patriot League matches. On Friday, Oct. 12, Lafayette will visit
Bender Arena for a 7 p.m. showdown with AU and the following day,
Oct. 13, Lehigh takes on the Eagles at 2 p.m. On the line for
American is their PL winning streak which currently sits at 31
matches including postseason play from the last two years.
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