WASHINGTON – Sophomore Loren McKenzie registered nine kills and five blocks to lead the American University volleyball team to a straight-set victory over Lafayette on Saturday afternoon.

The Eagles posted set scores of 25-14, 25-22, 25-11, against the Leopards to improve to 19-6 on the season and 10-0 in the Patriot League. Meanwhile, the Leopards dropped to 11-11 overall and 3-8 in the league.

McKenzie's nine kills were a career high and came on 12 attempts with no errors. Senior Allison Cappellino added nine kills and 10 digs, while senior setter Monika Smidova finished with 23 assists, 11 digs and seven kills.

The Eagles never trailed against the Leopards and the only tie came early in the first set with the score knotted at 1-1. Lafayette made a late run in set two to cut AU's lead to 24-22, but that was as close as the Leopards would get.

American saw significant production from its reserves, particularly in the third set. Senior Megi Dervishi recorded a pair of kills in set three, while freshman Meaghan Donahue, registered four straight kills to help the Eagles extend their advantage.

AU hit .371 for the match, led by Smidova (.778) and McKenzie (.750), while holding Lafayette to an .056 attack percentage.

 "My focus in this match was just to continue getting better," said McKenzie. "As a team, that's what we're looking to do, always get better. I'm just trying to do whatever I can for the team."

"I thought we played stronger today and were a lot more focused," said sophomore libero Hoakalei Dawson, who recorded 11 digs against the Leopards. "We don't worry so much about what our opponent is doing—we just focus on ourselves and getting better every day."

The Eagles are back in action on Tuesday, when they host Navy in a 7 p.m. contest.

"Navy is coming off a big win over Lehigh, so they're going to be fired up to play us," said McKenzie. "It should be a really good match."