WASHINGTON - For the second time in the opening four matches, American University volleyball made things interesting with a five-set win. This time the Eagles (3-1) rallied after being down by two sets at North Carolina A&T (2-2), ultimately winning by scores of 9-25, 23-25, 25-20, 25-21 and 15-11.
NOTABLE
- Senior Carlie Fikse came on strong with three kills in the final set, finishing the night with an impressive line of nine kills and zero errors on 12 attempts for a hitting percentage of .750.
- Leading AU in total kills for the fourth time in as many matches was junior Zeynep Uzen with 12 of them to go along with eight digs.
- Splitting setting duties, both junior Inbal Peleg and sophomore Tyra Areskoug finished with double-doubles. Peleg added 10 kills to 19 assists, while Areskoug posted 11 digs with 15 assists.
- Senior Chiara Bosetti was the Eagles' leader with 12 digs, and tied for team-high honors with junior Asli Celikkol as both served up three aces.
HEAR FROM COACH GOLDBERG
- "What a tough match! We had some early difficulties getting used to the environment in the first set and had no success at all. We started changing players to slow things down but NC A&T kept hitting harder. They killed us! In set two we responded. Zeynep and Inbal led the charge. We subbed Esma out and let Tyra set the back row. Things started working although we lost that set in a close battle! We had Fanny and Rachael play back row as well. We started feeling it in set three and did not stop! It was a great comeback for our team to win it in five. Now on to the matches tomorrow."
HOW IT HAPPENED
- North Carolina A&T put together a nearly perfect set to start things out, knocking down 15 team kills with zero errors and four aces on its way to a 25-9 win.
- Freshman Naiya Sawtelle of NC A&T posted six of her match-high 17 kills in the first set alone. She would finish with a double-double, also leading all players with 17 digs.
- While American's hitting was not noticeably better in the second set than the first, the Eagles' serving kept them in it. With seven aces, AU was able to hang in until the end but came up short, 25-23.
- With the match on the line in set three, AU looked like a new team. The Eagles hit. 435, easily their best set of the night, committing just two errors with 12 kills.
- Uzen came up with two kills in the final few points of what had been a back-and-forth set, and that lifted AU to a 25-20 win to keep the Eagles in the match.
- The next must-win set saw AU jump out to an 11-6 lead, but the Aggies chipped away and had the score tied at 21-21. Celikkol served out the final few points as a block from Fikse and Peleg along with a Katie Putney kill ended things in AU's favor at 25-21.
- Two early Fikse kills set the tone in the final set, and she had another one for an 11-6 lead that forced a timeout by the Aggies.
- NC A&T responded with three straight points to come as close as 11-9, but the Eagles persevered. Kills from Peleg and Celikkol kept AU in the lead, and errors by the Aggies ultimately did them in.
NEXT UP
- The Eagles will play two more matches in Greensboro on Saturday, starting with an 11 a.m. contest at UNC Greensboro. The weekend will conclude with a neutral-site match against Norfolk State at 5 p.m.
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