Aug. 29, 2008
Box Score
WASHINGTON - The American University volleyball
team opened its season Friday evening with a 3-2 loss to George
Washington in the first round of the D.C. Volleyball Challenge. The
Eagles took an early 2-0 lead in the match but faltered offensively
down the stretch.
AU took an early lead in the match with convincing wins of 25-16
and 25-10 in the first and second sets. The Eagles defense began
the evening strong as they limited GW to a .083 hitting percentage
in the first set and forced six Colonial errors. In the second set
American's offense caught up with its defense as the team hit for a
.448 percentage and forced GW to hit -.029. Senior outside hitter
Rubena Sukaj
led the team through the second set with eight kills on 18 attempts
while freshman Rebecca Heath kept
pace with seven kills on 19 attempts.
GW narrowed AU's lead with an 18-25 win in the second set. In
the set the Colonials combined for a .360 hitting percentage while
limiting AU's attack to a .138 percentage and totaling 5.5 blocks.
GW continued its strong play into the fourth set and defeated the
Eagles 15-25 on the strength of a .462 hitting percentage and a
defense that forced a match-high nine errors.
The Colonials jumped out to an early 8-2 lead in the fifth and
deciding set and held off an AU comeback attempt to close the
match. American closed the gap to as little as three points, 7-10,
on consecutive kills by Angelina
Waterman and Heath. GW would widen their lead to four on the
next point however and finished the set, 12-15.
American was led by the senior duo of Sukaj and Christina Nash.
Sukaj totaled 22 kills for the match on 47 attempts while Nash
dished out 52 assists. The classmates both also recorded their
first double-double of the year as Sukaj finished with 16 digs and
Nash 10. Sukaj and Nash were complimented by the freshman Heath who
recorded her first career double-double in her collegiate debut
with 13 kills and 10 digs. Sophomore Cassandra
Ricketts pitched in 13 kills of her own while junior Ivana Cebakova dug
13 balls.
Sukaj scored one service ace in the match, bringing her career
total to 239 and tying her with Jami Versteegen, '90, for the
school's all-time mark.
The Eagles will return to the court tomorrow, Aug. 29, for a
pair of matches to close out the D.C. Volleyball Challenge. AU will
first match up against Georgetown at 1 p.m. and then will meet
George Mason at 5 p.m. Both matches will be played at George
Washington's Smith Center.
