The American University volleyball team sent its five graduating senior student-athletes off in style Saturday afternoon, defeating Bucknell 3-0 in Bender Arena on "Senior Day". The Eagles owned a .356 hitting percentage for the day while holding Bucknell to a -0.12 percentage, en route to the 25-11, 25-7, 25-20 victory.

Katerina Cinkova, Deborah Frantz, Cassandra Ricketts, Magdalena Tekiel and Angelina Waterman were each honored prior to the match during a "Senior Day" ceremony. The five have helped American to 89 wins and two Patriot League Championships in three-plus years, and have combined for 10 Patriot League Academic Honor Roll selections.

American (22-2, 9-0) got off to a quick start in the first set, opening an 8-1 lead. The Eagles led 13-3 following a Tekiel block and then improved its advantage to 18-5 on a Ricketts kill. American scored three straight points down the stretch and earned set point on a Waterman ace, 25-11.

Leading 4-3 in the second set, American rattled off nine straight points to move the score to 13-3. The Eagles would score 12 of the next 16 points for set point, 25-7.

Bucknell (8-13, 6-3) hung tough in the third set, even taking a brief lead 15-14. An American timeout righted the ship, however, as the Eagles scored three straight for a 17-15 advantage. A Bison error made the score 21-17 in favor of the Eagles before a 3-0 run closed out the match, 25-20.

American's seniors led the way all afternoon, with Tekiel scoring a match-high 13 kills and adding five digs and two blocks. Ricketts tallied eight kills with five digs, and finished the match with a .615 hitting percentage. Waterman and Richardson each notched seven kills while Cinkova recorded three kills and three blocks.

Alexandra Hammer dished out 31 assists while guiding the Eagles to a .356 hitting percentage. Led by Frantz's 11 digs on the defensive side of the net, American held Bucknell to a -.012 hitting percentage.

The win was American's 16th straight and the team's 17th consecutive win in Bender Arena dating back to last season.

American will return to action next Friday, October 29, at 7:00 p.m. against Navy in Annapolis, Md.

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