The American University volleyball team defeated Bucknell on Saturday afternoon, 3-1, in Lewisburg, Pa., in the team's regular season finale. The Eagles, who were still in the hunt for the 2009 Patriot League Regular Season Championship, did their part with the win but Army's victory over Lehigh on Saturday secured the regular season crown for the Black Knights and right to host the 2009 Patriot League Tournament next weekend. American earned its victory by set scores of 26-24, 15-25, 25-17 and 25-18.

The Eagles had their hands full in the first set as Bucknell (8-18, 4-10) jumped out to an early 11-6 lead. American (17-11, 11-3), however, regained its composure and tied the score at 14 on a Claire Recht kill. Bucknell answered back with a 5-0 run to take a 20-15 advantage but its lead was short lived as the Eagles rattled off five straight points of their own to even the set at 20. Tied at 24, American finally took the upperhand with a Magdalena Tekiel kill and then forced a Bucknell error for set point, 26-14.

American failed to take its momentum from the first set into the second as Bucknell quickly jumped out to a 12-5 advantage and kept its foot on the peddle en route to taking set point, 25-15. In the third set, however, it was the Eagles who came out the aggressor as American took a 4-0 lead following back-to-back Cynammon Burns service aces. The Eagles held a 16-10 advantage after forcing consecutive Bison errors and pushed its lead to as many as 10 points, 24-14, on a Tekiel ace. An Agelina Waterman kill earned set points for American, 25-17.

The Eagles and Bison traded points in the opening moments of the fourth set and after 15 points American held onto a slim 8-7 lead. The Eagles pushed their advantage to 11-8 following a Bianca Richardson and Waterman block but Bucknell would rally and tied the set at 15. The Eagles, however, took control from that point on and after a Recht and Cassandra Ricketts block held a 20-15 lead. American then took match point, 20-18, following consecutive Waterman kills.

Tekiel led all scorers with 12 kills while Waterman was a close second, scoring 10 kills of her own. Recht notched nine kills on 15 attempts for a .533 hitting percentage and chipped in five total blocks. Krysta Cicala dished out 41 assists with eight digs in the victory while Burns tallied 13 digs.

The 2009 Patriot League Tournament will be held this year on Saturday and Sunday, November 21-22, in West Point, N.Y. Top-seeded Army will meet #4 Lehigh in Saturday's first semifinal match at 4 p.m. with #2 American and #3 Colgate set to meet at 6 p.m. The two winners of Saturday's semifinal matches will then meet at 4 p.m. on Sunday to determine the 2009 Patriot League Tournament Champion and who will represent the Patriot League in the NCAA Tournament.

Admission to the 2009 Patriot League Tournament is free of charge. Live video and stats of all matches will be available through Army's website and can accessed by clicking here.