ANN ARBOR, Mich. – The American University volleyball team closed out a memorable season on Thursday, as they traveled to Ann Arbor to take on Michigan in the First Round of the NCAA Tournament.  The Eagles fell to the Wolverines in three sets, 25-13, 25-23, 25-12.

The journey to Ann Arbor certainly wasn't an easy one for the Eagles, who ended up with an overall record of 27-7 despite facing a number of season-ending injuries early in the year.  AU gained momentum after a series of defining wins early in conference play, and behind the on-court leadership of sophomores Aleksandra Kazala and Kennedy Etheridge, earned the program's 14th Patriot League title and NCAA Championships berth.

Kazala, who led the Eagles during the season averaging 4.31 kills per set (.310 pct.), led the team once again on Thursday with nine kills to tally 11 points.  Freshman libero Kristen Largay put up a team-high eight digs, and senior setter Kennedy Etheridge led with 24 assists.

AU was held to a .125 attack percentage while Michigan hit a new high for the latter half of the season with a .406 hitting percentage. 

The Wolverines had three players put up double-digit kills, including junior Claire Kieffer-Wright who led the team with 13.  Seniors Abby Cole and Kelly Murphy each contributed ten kills.  Sophomore libero Jenna Lerg had a team-high 14 digs while sophomore MacKenzie Welsh led with 35 assists.

The Eagles had a slow start to the match, losing the first set, 25-13, after being held to a .037 hitting percentage. 

"We knew we were playing a good team heading into the match," Head Coach Barry Goldberg said. "They're bigger, stronger, they run a faster offense.  They're just a good team.  They put us in some tough places early in the match, and we were having a hard time making kills.  As game one went on, we started getting better and built some momentum heading into game two, which was what I was hoping would happen."

The Eagles came out of the break with a renewed fire, though, hitting .233 to battle Michigan in the second set.  The Eagles tied Michigan ten times during the second set, and picked up a three-point lead during the latter half before a 5-2 run by the Wolverines gave them the set, 25-23.

"During game two, we came out and were going back-and-forth.  We made a couple of runs in some of the rotations we had talked about in the pregame scout report, which was great, and were up by two or three points," Goldberg said. "We talk about how successful we were all season long in these kinds of close games, but they made some blocks here and there and suddenly we're on our heels and battling back-and-forth again.  We just had a hard time stopping their continued power in blocking and attacking, and we weren't able to kill them in the serve and pass.  They just kept making kills all night long that we didn't have a blocking answer for."

The Wolverines overpowered the Eagles in the third set, 25-12, holding AU to .097 hitting percentage.

HEAR FROM COACH GOLDBERG...
"This was a good season for us.  I'm very happy with everyone, they put in so much work this year and I'm pleased with the fact that we went out fighting.  We'll see where we need to get better, and just go on from there.  Just about everyone is going to be back next season except Julita [Kurdziuk], who we will miss.  She's such a great person, a great addition to our team, and I'm really proud of her and appreciative of everything she's done for us.

You know, we started the season and we really didn't know what was going to happen with this team.  There were so many new faces, and we had lost so many major players from the Sweet 16 in 2013, and last year beating Kentucky.  We had new players at just about every position, and it just took some time early in the season for everyone to get used to each other.  But we got better and better as the season went on, and just caught fire when the Patriot League games started.  From there the confidence started growing, and our leaders really stepped up - Aleksandra Kazala became a big leader, and certainly Kennedy Etheridge, and I can't say enough about Loren McKenzie's year.  The three of them leading us was so instrumental.  I'm just really proud of this team."

American will look to return all but one for the 2017 season, as Julita Kurdziuk graduates as the lone senior.  For the latest on the Eagles, stay tuned to AUEagles.com and follow the team on Twitter @AU_Volleyball.