Sept. 26, 2008

Box Score

WASHINGTON - The American University volleyball team defeated Colgate on Friday night, 3-0, in the Second-Annual Bender Blue Out. 1,313 fans filled the seats of Bender Arena to see the Eagles in their home and conference opener.

"Tonight was a really fun match for our girls," Head Coach Barry Goldberg said. "We had a great crowd that was into the match the entire time and our team responded and played well. Colgate is a good conference team and this was a great way to start off the conference schedule."

AU (7-6, 1-0) won in straight sets for the sixth time this season by scores of 25-14, 25-19 and 25-14. In the first set American took control right from the first serve, scoring four-consecutive points for a 4-0 lead. After a Colgate timeout with the Eagles ahead by six, 8-2, AU went on a 6-2 run to push its lead to 10, 14-4. American continued to roll down the stretch and easily took set point, 25-14. Freshman Rebecca Heath tallied five kills in the first frame to lead the Eagles in scoring while senior Rubena Sukaj, junior Claire Recht and sophomore Cassandra Ricketts each added three.

Colgate took control of the early portion of set two as the Raiders scored the first three points for a 3-0 lead. AU quickly responded and tied the score at four on an Ivana Cebakova ace and took its first lead in the set on a second Cebakova ace, 5-4. The Eagles could not extend their lead however as Colgate would retie the score and remain even with AU for most of the frame. Tied at 16, American was finally able to pull away and opened a three point lead, 20-17, before taking set point by six, 25-19. Heath again led the Eagles in kills in set two as she and Sukaj each scored four.

The Eagles opened a slight lead early in the third set and gradually built their lead to four, 10-6. Colgate was able to remain close as they closed the gap to two, 12-10, but would not get any closer. AU built its lead back up to seven, 18-11, using a 5-0 run and scored six straight points down the stretch to reach match point, 25-14. AU combined to hit a match-high .444 in the third with 15 kills on 27 attempts and just three errors while holding Colgate to a -.033 hitting percentage with six kills on 30 attempts and seven errors.

Senior setter Christina Nash dished out 31 assists in the win and led the team to an overall hitting percentage of .370. Sukaj and Heath each recorded a match-high 11 kills while Cassandra Ricketts led all hitters with a .667 hitting percentage on eight kills, zero errors and 12 attempts. Defensively, the Eagles held Colgate to a combined .080 hitting percentage and were led by Cebakova who tallied nine digs and Sukaj and Ricketts who each tallied seven.

American will be in action again tomorrow, Sept. 27, welcoming Bucknell to Bender Arena for a 4 p.m. match. Fans unable to attend tomorrow's match can still watch all of the action live from their homes via Eagle Vision All*Access by clicking here.