NEW YORK – Senior outside hitters Sarah Katz and Allison Cappellino each registered 10 kills to lead the American University volleyball team to a straight-set victory over Northeastern Friday at the Columbia Invitational.

The Eagles posted set scores of 25-15, 25-20, 25-15, as they snapped a four-match losing streak to improve to 4-4 on the season. Meanwhile, the Huskies dropped to 2-9 overall.

Katz also finished with 10 digs, while sophomore Hoakalei Dawson recorded a match-high 16 digs. Senior setter Monika Smidova also had a strong performance for the Eagles, registering 29 assists and 10 digs, while also hitting an impressive .778 with seven kills on nine attempts.

American got out to a hot start in the opening set, outscoring the Huskies 6-0. Northeastern never got closer than four points in the set, giving the Eagles an easy win.

Northeastern rebounded in set two, earning a 12-8 advantage after an attack error by American. However, the Eagles answered with a 6-0 run to take the lead. AU finished strong to pick up its second set victory.

In the final set, American led throughout, holding a late 23-11 advantage. The Huskies put together a four-point run, but the Eagles closed out the set for the match victory.

"I thought overall we played a pretty solid match," said American head coach Barry Goldberg. "Monika was able to take control of the tempo and lead our attackers into good opportunities for success.

"Sarah, Allison and Kristyna [Lindovska] continued to improve throughout the match and we had good contributions from several other players that led to a decisive win. After last weekend's matches, we worked on ball control and offense, and it showed well today."

The Eagles conclude the tournament with two matches on Saturday, facing NJIT at 11 a.m., followed by a 1:30 p.m. match versus the host Lions.