WASHINGTON - It's tournament time for American University volleyball, and the No. 6 Eagles will play a Patriot League quarterfinal match at No. 3 Navy at 7 p.m. on Tuesday, Nov. 15. The winner will advance to the semifinals on Saturday, Nov. 19 at Colgate. AU finished the season with three straight wins, and has never not appeared in the PL semifinals since joining the league in 2001.
QUICK INFO
- Date/Time: Tuesday, Nov. 15 at Navy (7 p.m.)
- Team Records: American (15-14, 7-9), Navy (14-11, 11-5)
- Site: Annapolis, Md. (Wesley A. Brown Field House)
- Tickets: Admission is FREE
- TV: ESPN+
PARKING AND ATTENDANCE
- Admission to Tuesday's match is free. Fans 18 and over need a government-issued photo ID.
- Fans may park at Navy-Marine Corps Memorial Stadium for $10 and take a shuttle that will run every 10 minutes starting one hour before the game and will continue running until one hour after the game is completed. Enter the Stadium's Gate 5 off Taylor Ave. to park. Pedestrians may also walk through the Naval Academy's Gate 1 or Gate 8.
INSIDE THE SERIES
- American leads the all-time series with Navy, 51-6.
- Navy won both meetings so far this season, with a 3-1 win in Annapolis and a 3-0 win in DC.
- In 2021, it was the Eagles who both meetings.
- In the COVID-shortened 2020-21 season, the teams split matches.
AU'S PATRIOT LEAGUE TOURNAMENT HISTORY
- American has never missed out on advancing to the PL Tournament semifinals since joining the league in 2001. The PL Tournament expanded to six teams in 2019, and the 2021 season marked AU's first appearance in one of the quarterfinal matches. The Eagles won that match last year against Loyola Maryland and ultimately advanced to the championship.
- The Eagles won 16 of 19 PL titles through the 2019 season. After a PL semifinal loss to Colgate in the shortened 2020-21 season, American did appear back in the championship match in 2021 but once again lost to Colgate, 3-1.
WHAT TO KNOW ABOUT AMERICAN
- The Eagles were in a must-win situation last weekend as only the sixth and final spot in the Patriot League Tournament was up for grabs between AU and Lafayette. The Eagles were in control of their fate and got the win, 3-1, before also topping Holy Cross in straight sets the following day.
- Senior outside hitter Zeynep Uzen picked up her first Patriot League Player of the Week honor of the season in the last possible week after averaging an incredible 6.57 kills per set in the wins over Lafayette and Holy Cross.
- In a vote by the League's head coaches, Uzen was named to the All-Patriot League First Team for the third time in her career. She also earned the honor in 2019 and 2021, and was named to the PL Second Team in 2020-21.
- American lost six straight matches from mid-October through early November before breaking through with a five-set win at Lehigh on November 5.
- In October, AU dealt with a rash of injuries, including to Uzen, who missed a total of five matches. Uzen, who leads AU and ranks second in the PL with 4.31 kills per set, currently has 1,239 kills to rank eighth all-time in program history.
- Graduate student Carlie Fikse is seventh in the Patriot League with a hitting percentage of .279 and eighth in the PL with 0.89 blocks per set. Senior Inbal Peleg is sixth with 6.29 assists per set and ninth with 0.32 aces per set. Senior Rachael Bennett and sophomore Bridget Javitch rank ninth and 10th in digs per set at 3.26 and 3.01, respectively.
SCOUTING NAVY
- Navy began the season with a 2-6 record in its first eight matches, but has since gone 12-5 and finished in third place in the Patriot League with an 11-5 PL record.
- Averi Miller ranks second in the PL with 9.92 assists per set and Maddie Bodman ranks second in the PL with a hitting percentage of .330. Bodman and Anna Klemeyer rank fifth and seventh with 1.04 and 0.90 blocks per set, respectively.
- Twins Jamie and Jordan Llewellyn rank fourth and fifth with 3.38 kills per set and 3.19 kills per set, respectively.
- Head coach Paco Labrador is in his fifth season at the helm with a record at Navy of 69-46. He led the Mids to the program's first Patriot League Tournament title in his first season (2018) in Annapolis.
- The Mids lost to Colgate in the 2021 PL Tournament semifinals, and did not appear in the tournament in 2020-21. American knocked out Navy in the 2019 PL semis.
HOW TO WATCH ESPN+
- A subscription to ESPN+ is available for purchase via ESPN.com, ESPNPlus.com, or the ESPN App. Fans can access ESPN+ content only after they have subscribed. To subscribe, click here. It costs $69.99/month or $99.99/year.
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