The American University volleyball team registered its fourth straight sweep to open Patriot League play, downing Holy Cross, 3-0, on Friday night in Bender Arena.

American (18-1, 4-0) went up 3-0 early before the Crusaders battled back to knot it up at 5-all. The Eagles pulled away again, taking a 16-9 advantage on consecutive points by Juliana Crum and forcing Holy Cross to call a timeout. Crum came out of the break with her second straight ace but the Crusaders rallied with six straight points to cut American's lead to three, 19-16. The Eagles called a timeout and shutout Holy Cross following the break, notching six consecutive tallies to take the first set, 25-16.

Holy Cross (6-9, 1-3) took the early lead in the second set before American came back to tie it up four times. The Eagles finally began to pull away, going on a 4-0 run for the 13-9 lead. A kill by Dana Weston made it a two-point match, 14-12, but American responded with a 6-1 run to go up 20-13. Holy Cross continued to fight, cutting the Eagles' advantage to 21-18, but American closed out the set with a 4-1 run to take a 2-0 match lead.

The final set went back and forth before the Eagles were able to pull away, with a kill by Kelly McCaddin putting American up 15-10. Holy Cross battled back within two on a kill by Alex Aycock but the Eagles answered and pulled away once again, forcing the Crusaders to call a timeout after a block by Crum and Morgan Hendrix secured a 21-15 advantage.  American secured its 13th sweep of the year with three straight tallies for the 25-16 win.

Allison Cappellino led the Eagles with her first double-double of the year, posting 10 kills and a team-best 12 digs in the match. Crum and McCaddin also tallied double-digit kills. Crum notched 12 with a .524 hitting percentage while also recording three aces and McCaddin registered 11 while hitting .526 on the night. Monika Smidova paced the offense with 35 assists. American outhit the Crusaders, .375 to .140, for the match.

Aycock led Holy Cross with eight kills and Katie McKernan finished with 22 assists. Emily Popp registered 15 digs with Hannah Grace Stokes posting four aces.

American returns to action tomorrow, Saturday, October 5, at 4 p.m. when it hosts Army. The match will be broadcast live on Eagles Vision TV.