AU vs. Georgetown Box Score
AU vs. George Washington Box Score

The American University volleyball team set a new Washington, D.C., collegiate volleyball attendance record Saturday night as 1,813 fans packed Bender Arena in the team's third annual Bender Blue Out match. Despite the raucous crowd on hand, American was unable to outmatch visiting Georgetown as the Eagles fell in four sets, 3-1. American also lost a 3-1 decision earlier in the day to George Washington as the team's competed in the D.C. Volleyball Challenge.

The previous attendance record for a collegiate volleyball match in Washington, D.C., was set by the Eagles in 2007 when 1,513 fans attended the team's inaugural Bender Blue Out. 1,331 American supporters were on hand for last year's match.

Georgetown (1-2) opened a sizeable lead in the first set, taking a 10-3 advantage early. American attempted a comeback midway through the set but could not get overcome the Hoyas who eventually took the set by a score of 25-20.

The second set saw the team's trade the lead back-and-forth early before Georgetown pulled out to a 13-9 advantage. Not to be outdone, American charged back late in the frame and tied the score 23. The set was finally decided after the Eagles forced two Georgetown errors, giving American a 28-26 win.

Georgetown however proved to have the advantage as they took the third set, 25-21. With the score tied at 20, the Hoyas used a 4-0 run to pull away before putting the set away. The fourth set saw more of the same with Georgetown taking a 24-21 lead on the strength of a 4-0 run en route to a 25-21 victory and securing the match.

Junior Angelina Waterman continued her solid play from earlier in the day for the Eagles as she scored 17 kills with five digs and one block assist. Classmate Cassandra Ricketts added 11 kills in the loss while freshman Krysta Cicala contributed 39 assists and three total blocks.

George Washington (3-0) topped American in the day's earlier match by the same 3-1 score. The Colonials held a slight advantage through the early stages of the first set before American rallied to tie the score at 12. With the set tied at 22, the Eagles embarked on a 3-0 run punctuated by a Magdalena Tekiel kill to win the first set, 25-22.

Despite American's best efforts, George Washington proved to have the advantage throughout the remainder of the match. GW took the second set by a score of 25-23 after rallying from a 19-17 deficit. It was another tight affair in set three as the Eagles fought back from a seven point disadvantage to get to within three points on the scoreboard, 22-19, before the Colonials put the frame away by a score of 25-21. After playing to a 10-10 tie early in the fourth and deciding set, George Washington pulled away to take a 25-21 victory to take the match.

Waterman broke out against George Washington, recording a career-high 20 kills with seven digs and two block assists. Tekiel also notched a career-high with 15 kills and nine digs while Ricketts added 12 kills. Cicala recorded her first career double-double in the loss, notching 47 assists and 11 digs. Senior Cynammon Burns tallied a career-high 20 digs.

The Eagles will return to the court next weekend as they fly out west to participate in the University of Portland Classic. American will first play Portland on Sept. 3 before meeting New Mexico on Sept. 4. The team will wrap up its west-coast swing with a second meeting against Portland on Sept. 5.