Nov. 15, 2008

Box Score

WASHINGTON - The American University volleyball team captured its eight-consecutive Patriot League Regular Season Championship on Friday with a 3-0 win at Holy Cross. Led by 12 kills from Rubena Sukaj and 28 assists from Christina Nash, the Eagles have now earned the right to host the PL Tournament next weekend, Nov. 21-22, as they seek their eighth straight PL Tournament Championship.

American (22-7, 13-0) earned the victory by set scores of 25-17, 25-12, 25-11. AU fell behind Holy Cross early in the first set, 5-2, but quickly got back on track and tied the score at seven on a Claire Recht kill. Recht and Rebecca Heath teamed up for a block on the very next play to give AU the lead, 8-7. Leading by two, 15-13, the Eagles began a 6-0 run to take an eight point lead and put some distance between themselves and the Crusaders. Cassandra Ricketts started the run with a kill and later added an ace as AU took a commanding eight-point lead, 21-13. American extended its lead to 10, 24-14, on a Sukaj ace and took set point, 25-17, on a kill from Katerina Cinkova.

The Eagles used two Sukaj service aces and three Heath kills to take an early lead in set two, 6-1. AU increased its lead to eight points, 15-7, using a second 6-1 run and would go ahead by as many as 13 points, 24-11, late in the set. American used two Ivana Cebakova aces combined with kills from Ricketts and Sukaj to earn a chance at set point. Ricketts scored set point, 25-12, on her fourth kill of the frame as the Eagles combined to hit .556 while holding Holy Cross to a .000 hitting percentage.

AU appeared to be in for a fight in the third set as the two teams were locked in a tie, 7-7, after the frame's first 14 points. A three point American run which included consecutive aces from Cebakova gave the Eagles a three-point lead, 10-7, before a 7-0 run put the set out of Holy Cross' reach, 21-9. Sukaj tallied three aces during this run and Cinkova, Heath and Nash each recorded a kill. Leading by 11, 22-11, American scored three straight points, all on Crusader errors, to take match point, 25-11. The Eagles hit an impressive .619 in the frame with 13 kills and zero errors while holding Holy Cross to just a .048 percentage.

Sukaj led the attack for American as she recorded 12 kills on 17 attempts with just one error for a .647 hitting percentage. The senior also tallied six aces and added four digs. Both Recht and Ricketts scored five kills on six attempts with zero errors for hitting percentages of .833. Nash dished out 28 assists and dug five balls. Cebakova notched five digs and four aces.

The Eagles will conclude their 2008 regular season on Saturday, Nov. 15, at Army at 4 p.m. American, which holds a one match advantage over the Black Knights in the PL standings, is guaranteed at least a share of the PL Regular Season Championship. AU owns the tie break over Army and will host the PL Tournament next Friday and Saturday, Nov. 21-22, at Bender Arena as the No. 1 seed.