The American University volleyball team defeated Army, 3-1, Saturday afternoon in Bender Arena. With the win, American has pulled to within one game of the top spot in the Patriot League standings with only one weekend of play remaining. American earned the victory by set scores of 25-22, 25-22, 21-25, 25-21.

The entire match was closely contested as neither team gained more than a five-point advantage in three of the four sets. In the first, it was American (15-11, 9-3) who took the upper hand with a 4-0 run to gain an 11-7 lead. The Eagles took their largest lead of the set at 16-11 following a Claire Recht kill and held the same advantage at 20-15 after consecutive kills by Angelina Waterman and Magdalena Tekiel. Army (22-5, 10-2) pulled to within two, 20-18, with a quick 3-0 burst but ran out of steam down the stretch as the Eagles took set point, 25-22.

The two teams traded shots back-and-forth to open the second and were tied at seven after the first 14 points. With a two-point lead, 11-9, American finally found an answer to the Black Knights efforts and rattled off seven straight points to open an 18-9 advantage. Waterman scored three kills during the stretch as the Eagles forced two Army errors. The Black Knights would make a run at the lead late and trailed by just two near the end, 23-21, but a well-timed American timeout ended Army's momentum and allowed the Eagles to gain set point, 25-22, following a Tekiel kill.

Army responded to the two-set deficit with a 25-21 victory in the third. The Black Knights led by three points midway through the frame, 13-10, before the Eagles managed to even the score at 13 and eventually take a 14-13 lead. Despite its best efforts, however, American could not hold off Army as the visitors regained the lead opened an advantage which the Eagles could not come back from.

The Black Knights looked the be in control of the fourth set as well, opening an 11-6 lead to begin the set behind a 5-0 run. American, however, battled its was back and took a 21-19 lead using with its own 7-0 run. Tekiel scored three consecutive kills during the stretch while Recht and Krysta Cicala teamed up for blocks on back-to-back plays to cap it off. The Eagles scored the frame's final three points and earned match point on a Cassandra Ricketts kill, 25-21.

Tekiel recorded a team-high 16 kills in the victory and added six digs. Ann Recht chipped in 12 kills and Waterman notched nine with five digs. The Eagles finished the match with 9.5 blocks, led by six block assists put up by C. Recht and four by Cicala.

Heading into the final weekend of conference play, American sits one game behind Army and Colgate in the Patriot League Standings with home court advantage in the Patriot League Tournament still up for grabs. The Eagles will visit Colgate on Friday, November 13, before heading to Bucknell for the team's regular season finale on Saturday, November 14. Colgate will close out its schedule with Friday's match against American and a meeting with Navy on Saturday while Army finishes the year with visits from Lafayette and Lehigh.