BETHLEHEM, Pa. - With her 20th and 21st kills of the match, freshman Adelina Berisha finished off a scrappy, hard-fought and much-needed victory for American University volleyball as the Eagles defeated Lehigh in five sets, 25-22, 20-25, 24-26, 25-22 and 17-15. The victory, which snapped a six-match losing streak, will go a long way towards helping AU earn a spot in the six-team Patriot League Tournament.
NOTABLE
- The Eagles are now in sixth place in the Patriot League standings at 5-9, a half game ahead of Lafayette (5-10) who AU will host next Friday. The Eagles' final regular season match is against last-place Holy Cross (1-13).
- One spot is up for grabs between the three teams who remain in contention for it—American, Lafayette and Lehigh.
- Berisha's 21 kills tie her career high, and she also hit an impressive .421.
- Leading the Eagles in total kills was Zeynep Uzen with 22, and she made it a double-double with 13 digs.
- Bridget Javitch posted a team-high 19 digs.
- Esma Sipahi had a double-double of 23 assists to go with 15 digs, and Inbal Peleg notched a double-double with 30 assists to go with 14 digs.
- Carlie Fikse recorded nine kills, and Onuchi Ndee posted eight kills and a match-best hitting percentage of .538.
- Both teams served up 10 aces, but Lehigh had 11 service errors to AU's six. The Mountain Hawks made up for that with 13 blocks to American's six.
HOW IT HAPPENED
- Both teams hit well in the opening set but the Eagles really limited errors to pull well ahead just past the midway point.
- AU had leads of 19-14 and 23-17 before Lehigh got back in it with a 4-0 run. Sipahi found an open spot for a kill for set point, and after one more point for the Mountain Hawks, a service error gave it to AU, 25-22.
- After an 8-8 tie in the second set, Lehigh pulled away and did not trail again. The Mountain Hawks used a 7-1 run for a 15-9 lead, and later led 20-14.
- AU fought back to come within three on three different occasions, but could get no closer and Lehigh won 25-20 to even the match at 1-1.
- The third set ended in heartbreaking fashion for the Eagles, who had come back from sizeable deficits twice and then had set point at 24-23, but the Mountain Hawks scored three straight to win it 26-24.
- American trailed 9-3 and 17-12 in the third, but surged into the lead with an 11-3 run. The Eagles were up 23-20 after the run, but managed only one more point on a kill from Berisha—her 10th of the match.
- The Eagles finished off the fourth set with three straight kills including two from Uzen for a 25-22 win. It was one of the tightest set of the day with 12 ties and eight lead changes, but AU found the fight it needed in the end to stay alive.
- The final set turned up the intensity another notch with 10 ties, and the Eagles had three chances at match point that were thwarted by Lehigh before Berisha finally finished it off.
- Lehigh committed zero attacking errors in the fifth set, but managed only 10 kills to AU's 15.
UP NEXT
- American returns home for its final two regular season matches. The Eagles will host Lafayette at 6 p.m. on Friday, Nov. 11, and will host Holy Cross for Senior Day at 2 p.m. on Saturday, Nov. 12.
- Tickets are available at AUEagles.com/Tickets.
KEEP UP WITH US
