Led by a 12 kills, six block performance from Katerina Cinkova, the American University volleyball team defeated Towson Friday afternoon in Bender Arena, 3-0. The Eagles improved to 9-2 and earned the victory by set scores of 25-19, 25-20 and 25-18.

American (9-2) opened a 7-3 lead to begin the first set as Juliana Crum scored two kills and an ace. The Eagles then moved their advantage to 14-7 on back-to-back kills from Bianca Richardson and Angelina Waterman before the Tigers began to scratch their way back. Trailing 18-12, Towson scored three consecutive points to pull to within three, 18-15, but had its comeback halted by a Waterman kill. American regained a five point advantage, 22-17, on a Tiger error before earning set point, 25-19, on another Crum ace.

Towson held an 8-5 lead early in the second set before a Waterman kill, Crum ace and Cinkova kill evened the score at eight.  The Tigers were able to regain the lead, 12-11, but only momentarily as a Richardson kill and two Krysta Cicala aces helped American to a 4-0 run and a 15-12 advantage. The Eagles  lead was short lived, however, as Towson took off on its own 4-0 run to go on top 16-15. Trailing 17-16, American finally regained the lead for good on a Cinkova kill, 18-17. A 3-0 run which included kills by Cinkova and Waterman and a Crum ace helped the Eagles to pull away, 22-18, before Crum recorded set point, 25-20.

American started quickly in the third set and took a 5-2 advantage, but was overtaken by a 4-0 Tigers run as Towson opened an 11-9 margin. The Eagles answered back with a 3-0 spurt of their own for a 12-11 lead and then used a 5-0 run to take a 17-13 lead. American was on top by as many as eight, 22-14, following back-to-back kills from Cinkova and Waterman en route to taking match point, 25-18, on a Cinkova ace.

Cinkova led the Eagles with a match-high 12 kills and a hitting percentage of .455 (12 kills, 22 attempts, 1 error). The senior also notched six block assists and one ace. Waterman complemented Cinkova's effort with 11 kills, three block assists and five digs while Crum chipped in six kills, a .500 hitting percentage (6 kills, 10 attempts, 1 error) and three aces.

Cicala recorded 28 assists and two aces in the victory, helping American to a .279 hitting percentage. Towson, meanwhile, was limited to a .129 hitting percentage as the Eagles combined for nine blocks. Magdalena Tekiel notched a match-high nine digs and added six kills and four block assists.

The victory improves American's record to 9-2 as the Eagles continue to enjoy their best start to a season since 2001. American finished that season with a 26-4 mark, won the program's first Patriot League Championship and qualified for the NCAA Tournament.

American will return to action on Sunday, September 19, against Stony Brook at 12:00 p.m. in Bender Arena. Fans unable to attend the match can catch all of the action live through AUeagles.com via a subscription to Eagles Vision TV. Eagles Vision TV will broadcast all 12 of American's home volleyball matches this season, bringing the action from Bender Arena to your computer.  Year-long subscriptions are $49.95 and allow you to watch every live broadcast produced by Eagles Vision TV and access to the Eagles Vision TV archives to watch past games on-demand. Single-game subscriptions, which are only available during live broadcasts, are also available for $5.95 per event.

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