Nov. 9, 2007
Box Score
WASHINGTON - The American University volleyball
team clinched its seventh-consecutive Patriot League Regular Season
Championship Friday night, downing the Lehigh Mountain Hawks 3-0.
The victory also secures homecourt advantage for the Eagles
throughout the PL Tournament which will take place next weekend,
Nov. 16-17. AU has hosted and won the conference tournament the
past six years, earning a berth into the NCAA Tournament with each
win. The Eagles have only lost two matches at home since opening
night of 2006 and have a 29-2 home record the past two seasons.
"It is nice to see our team playing well as we head down the
stretch," AU Head Coach Barry Goldberg
said. "I'm looking forward to a competitive weekend as we bring the
Patriot League Tournament to American."
Game scores in the match were 30-16, 30-19, 30-28. AU improves
to 23-7 overall with the win and 12-1 in the PL while Lehigh falls
to 5-21 overall and 2-11 in the conference. American out hit Lehigh
in the three games, .333 to .098, recording 47 kills on 99 attempts
and committing only 14 errors. The Eagles also notched 12 blocks in
the contest compared to the Mountain Hawks seven and tallied eight
service aces.
Rubena
Sukaj led the Eagles in scoring Friday night with 18 kills, one
ace, two blocks and also notched seven digs. Chelsa Brooks was
AU's second leading scorer with seven kills on 14 attempts and four
total blocks. Christina Nash
directed the offense and finished with 26 assists, four kills and
chipped in defensively with three blocks and five digs. Claire Recht had a
match high five total blocks with three of the solo variety and
scored five kills.
American opened up a slight led in game one but the Mountain
Hawks worked their way back to within one, 11-10. A 10-2 run capped
off by two Cassandra
Ricketts aces opened the Eagles led to 21-13 and they never
looked back, taking game point 30-16.
AU hit an astounding .630 in game two with 17 kills on 27
attempts and zero errors. Sukaj scored seven kills in the frame and
Angelina
Waterman was a perfect 3-3 on the attack. Brooks, Nash and C.
Recht each recorded solo blocks to help hold Lehigh to a .162
hitting percentage as the Eagles took game two, 30-19.
Game three was closely contested as the two teams found
themselves tied five times. The final tie was broken when Tara Stradling
found Ricketts for one of her 12 assists and a 29-28 American lead.
Match point would come on the very next play as Lehigh committed
its 10th attack error in the stanza.
American's final regular season match of the year will be played
tomorrow on the road against Lafayette at 2 p.m. The Eagles have
already defeated Lafayette once this year, a 3-0 victory for AU at
home in Bender Arena.
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