WASHINGTON - Junior Zeynep Uzen had a career performance with 23 kills and 17 digs, but the American University volleyball team still suffered a heartbreaking, five-set loss to visiting Harvard after holding a 2-0 lead in the match.

NOTABLE

• Uzen's 23 kills are a career high, and the double-double is her fourth of the season. 
• Senior Fanny Ahman posted a career-high 19 digs to lead all players in the match, and graduate student Chiara Bosetti served up a season-high five aces.
• Junior Asli Celikkol knocked down 14 kills and sophomore Katie Putney added 11. Both Putney and sophomore Allie Burke tallied five blocks.
• Junior setter Inbal Peleg finished with a season-high 47 assists along with eight digs.

HOW IT HAPPENED

• The Eagles had two strong stretches in the first set that led to them taking a 1-0 lead in the match. They were ahead 7-2 before Harvard caught up, but with a 15-14 lead, AU used an 8-0 run to go up 23-14.
• The Crimson made the end of the first set interesting with a 6-0 run of their own, but kills by Carlie Fikse and Celikkol in the final three points ended it in favor of AU. The final kill by Celikkol for the 25-21 set win was her sixth of the match.
• Uzen came on strong with five kills in the second set, almost half of AU's total, as the Eagles out-hit Harvard .240 to -.154.
• American turned a 2-2 tie into a 10-2 lead, setting the tone for how the rest of the set would go. Up 23-13, Uzen and Celikkol knocked down back-to-back kills for the final score of 25-13.
• Harvard turned it up a notch for a win in the third set, hitting .447 with 21 kills to AU's 12. The Eagles made a run to cut the margin to two at 19-17, but the Crimson were able to stay in the lead the rest of the way.
• Blocking made the difference in the fourth set as Harvard posted five blocks while AU had zero. It was a tight one with nine ties and two lead changes, but the Crimson kept the errors down for a second set in a row and won 25-22 to send the match to a fifth set.
• The fifth set swung back and forth, with Harvard initially taking an 8-4 lead before a 6-0 run including two Bosetti aces had the Eagles on top 10-8.
• American was still in strong position with a 13-11 lead, but did not score again. Three Harvard kills and an attack error on the Eagles pushed the Crimson to a 15-13 set win and a 3-2 match win.

NEXT UP

• The Eagles will have just a few days off before heading across town to Howard for a 6 p.m. match on Tuesday, Sept. 21.

KEEP UP WITH US

• For the latest on American University Volleyball, stay tuned to AUEagles.com and follow the team on Twitter (@AU_Volleyball), Facebook (/AU.Volleyball) and Instagram (@au_volleyball).