Oct. 4, 2008

Box Score

WASHINGTON - The American University volleyball team continued its winning ways on Saturday, defeating Lehigh, 3-0, at home in Bender Arena. The Eagles have now won five matches in a row, all in straight sets, and have recorded 12 straight victories over Patriot League opponents.

The Eagles (10-6, 4-0) dispatched Lehigh by set scores of 25-8, 25-12, 25-23. American jumped out to an 11 point lead in the first set, 13-2, on the strength of an 8-0 run. A few moments later, AU extended its lead to 15, 21-6, as senior Christina Nash scored one of two Eagles aces in the set. American continued to roll down the stretch and after a Cassandra Ricketts kill AU took set point off a Mountain Hawk error, 25-8. The Eagles combined to hit .526 in the set with 12 kills on 19 attempts and just two errors. Claire Recht and Cassandra Ricketts were each a perfect two-for-two on the attack and Katerina Cinkova went four for five.

American took control of the second set off the opening serve as Recht recorded consecutive kills to put AU ahead, 2-0. Ahead by three, 8-5, the Eagles began a 7-0 run highlighted by three Sukaj kills and two Ricketts aces to extend their lead to 10, 15-5. AU's lead reached as many as 13 in the set, 23-10, when Nash found Magdalena Tekiel on the outside for a kill as the Eagles cruised to set point, 25-12. Recht was again perfect in the frame to lead the Eagles as she converted on all four of her attack attempts. Nash dished out 15 assists in the set to guide the Eagles to a .643 hitting percentage.

AU had its hands full in the third set and trailed by two, 13-11, at the midway point. The Eagles fought back to tie the score at 14 but fell behind again quickly, 16-14. With the score tied at 18, American took its first lead since going ahead 1-0, 19-18, on a kill by Rebecca Heath but could put the match away as the team's continued to trade points. A Lehigh attack error gave AU its first match point of the set and after a Mountain Hawk timeout Heath put the match away with her fifth kill of the set, 25-23.

American's win marks its fifth-consecutive straight set victory and 12th-consecutive win over a PL opponent dating back to last season. The Eagles were led by Nash who directed the offense to a .475 hitting percentage while dishing out 36 assists. Sukaj led all scorers with 12 kills and added seven digs on the defensive side of the net. Recht finished the match with an .800 hitting percentage as she scored eight kills on 10 attempts with zero errors.

The Eagles will return to action next Friday, Oct. 10, against Navy at 7 p.m. in Bender Arena. The following day, Saturday, Oct. 11, AU will host NJIT in a non-conference matchup scheduled for 12 p.m. Live video from both matches will be available via Eagle Vision All*Access by clicking here.