Oct. 10, 2008
Box Score
WASHINGTON - The American University volleyball
team won its sixth straight match, defeating Patriot League foe
Navy, 3-2 (20-25, 28-26, 25-14, 22-25, 15-11), Friday at Bender
Arena. The Eagles are now 23-2 all-time against the Mids and
haven't lost to them since 1989.
Navy (13-6, 2-3 PL) jumped out to a 6-0 lead, prompting an Eagle
timeout. American got its first kill of the match coming out of the
break from Cassandra
Ricketts. The Eagles cut the lead to 10-6 on a Katerina Cinkova
kill but could not close the gap, as the two sides continued to
trade points over the next 10 serves, putting the score at 15-11. A
service error by Navy's Alexa Gibbs spurred a 4-0 run to pull the
Eagles within one, 15-14, but the Mids answered with the next two
points, to give them a three-point 17-14 lead. AU again got within
one, 17-16, but Navy continued to outhit the Patriot League leading
Eagles, and led 22-17, before a pair of Rubena Sukaj kills
put the deficit at 22-19. With Navy up 24-20, AU's Rebecca Heath saved
set-point, but the Mids would put the first set away, 25-20.
AU (11-6, 5-0 PL) rebounded from a .118 hitting percentage in
the first set and jumped out to a 9-4 lead in set two, but back
fought Navy. The Mids went on an 8-4 run to cut the Eagles
advantage to 13-12. American responded with a 7-3 run of its own,
capitalized by an Ann Recht kill, to lead
20-15. Navy pulled within one, 22-21 and tied the score on a Gibbs
kill. The Mids took their first lead of the set on a Jessie Sims
kill, but an illegal touch knotted the score back up at 23 apiece.
A Cassandra
Ricketts block gave the Eagles set point, but AU could not put
the game away. Claire Recht gave
the Eagles their second set point, but a service error squandered
the opportunity. Navy earned their first set point following an
Aubrey Manes kill, but Sukaj answered with her 11th kill of the
match to tie the score at 26-26. A Ricketts ace gave AU its third
set point, and they would not waste it, winning by a score of
28-26. The Eagles hit .233 in the second set.
Navy led 6-4 early in the third set, when Ricketts delivered her
fourth kill of the match, followed by an ace to tie the set at 6-6.
The Eagles went on a 7-1 run to open up a 13-7 lead, capped off by
Heath's sixth kill. American continued to build its lead, and led
20-11, forcing a Navy timeout. Ann Recht registered a
kill out of the time out and the Eagles led 21-11. Up 24-13 after a
Sukaj block, the Eagles squandered one set point before a Navy
service error gave AU the 25-14 win. AU hit .455 in the third set
and held the Mids to just a .143 hitting percentage.
The fourth set mirrored the previous one, with Navy taking a 6-4
lead. It was Heath who would register a kill and a service ace for
the Eagles to knot the score at 6-6. However, it was the Midshipmen
who would build a lead coming out of the tie in this set, taking a
14-10 lead, forcing the Eagles to take a timeout. Navy led 20-15
late in the set when a Sukaj kill followed by a Heath point cut the
lead to 20-17. The Mids rebuilt a five point advantage and were up
22-17 coming out of another Eagles timeout. AU rattled off three
straight points before Kaitlin Roseti and Rebecca Heath
traded kills to put the score at 24-21, Navy. A Heath ace pulled
the Eagles within two, but Abbie Merkl put the set away, forcing a
fifth. The Mids hit .486 for the set, while the Eagles hit .333.
AU led 4-3 after a Claire Recht kill
and a Ivana
Cebakova ace and built its lead to 6-3, before Navy tallied its
next point. The Mids went on a three-point run to tie it up at 6-6
for the third straight set. Again AU tallied two straight points to
lead 8-6. Up 9-7, the Eagles outlasted the Mids on a long rally
that resulted in an AU point courtesy of a Sukaj dump, forcing a
Navy timeout with the score at 10-7. Heath gave the Eagles a 12-8
lead and a hitting error put AU within two points of winning its
first five set match of the season. Navy got within three, 13-10,
but a service error set up match point for the Eagles. AU failed to
convert on the first chance but put it away on the second and
extended its winning streak over the Mids to 23 matches.
"This was a tough battle," AU head coach Barry Goldberg
said following the win. "Navy worked hard, but we rebounded well
and got some big kills down the stretch from Rebecca (Heath) and
Rubena (Sukaj). Our defense made a big difference at the end,
holding them to just six kills in the final set."
The Eagles were led offensively by Sukaj and Heath, who had 20
and 19 kills, respectively. Ricketts finished with 11 kills. Nash
tallied 58 assists, while Sukaj (14) and Cebakova (10) registered
double-digit digs.
AU will return to action tomorrow at noon, as they host
non-conference opponent New Jersey Institute of Technology at
Bender Arena.
