WASHINGTON - It took some extra time, but the American University volleyball team gutted out a five-set win in its season opener at Georgetown on Friday night. The Eagles were led in their DC Challenge victory by junior
Zeynep Uzen with an impressive career-tying 19 kills to go with 19 digs.
NOTABLE
- Incredibly, Uzen's strongest set was the fifth, which goes to just 15 points. She put down six kills in the final set alone, including a stretch of three kills in four AU points.
- Nearly recording a triple-double was junior Inbal Peleg with 16 digs to go with 23 assists and a career-high nine kills. Peleg's versatility was crucial to the Eagles' success.
- Graduate student Chiara Bosetti led AU with a career-high 25 digs, and sophomore Allie Burke posted a team and career-high six blocks.
- Sophomore Tyra Areskoug served up a match-best five aces to go with 20 assists and six digs.
- The most efficient performance of the night belonged to senior Carlie Fikse who posted eight kills with only a single error on 16 attempts (.438). Fikse also tallied three blocks.
- Sophomore Katie Putney had a strong match with 11 kills to go with a career-high four blocks.
HOW IT HAPPENED
- Both teams showed stretches of dominance in a back-and-forth night, starting with American as the Eagles took a 9-2 lead in the opening set.
- Georgetown came back by the midway point, and the teams were tied four times down the stretch.
- After losing one set point, AU got the next one on an Uzen kill to go up 1-0 for the match.
- The second set was the tightest of the match with seven ties, but the Hoyas continually pulled a few points ahead and kept that lead in the end with their strongest hitting performance of the night.
- American looked like a new team in the third set, bursting out to a 14-6 lead and never looking back. Fikse posted half of her total kills in the third as AU out-hit Georgetown .367 to -.062.
- The tide turned in the fourth with the Hoyas posting 14 kills to AU's six and winning easily, 25-11.
- Uzen's heroics in the fifth broke a 6-6 tie, and the Eagles were strong on the block to take a significant advantage.
- The final point belonged to Putney and AU was able to celebrate its season-opening victory after a match that lasted nearly two and a half hours.
NEXT UP
- The Eagles will play twice tomorrow to close out the DC Challenge, heading to George Mason for an 11:30 a.m. match and hosting George Washington in their home opener at 7 p.m.
TICKET INFO
- Tickets to this match and all remaining AU Volleyball home matches are on sale now and can be purchased by clicking HERE.
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