WASHINGTON - Looking progressively stronger as the night went on, the American University volleyball dispatched visiting George Washington in straight sets for a season-opening victory at Bender Arena. It was also the first win at AU for
Ahen Kim as a head coach, with the Eagles taking it by scores of 26-24, 25-21 and 25-13.
By the Numbers
- The underclassmen led the way, with sophomore Adelina Berisha coming up with 14 kills in three sets (hitting .312) while freshman Holly Hopkins had an outstanding debut with 10 kills and a match-best hitting percentage of .381.
- Junior Bridget Javitch tied her career highs with 22 digs and three aces in just three sets, and graduate student Zeynep Uzen added 10 digs to seven kills.
- In her first match with AU after being injured last season, junior transfer Lilou Stegeman led the team in blocks with four.
- Junior setter Esma Sipahi tallied assists on 31 of American's 42 kills for the night.
- Committing zero errors, graduate student Carlie Fikse recorded four kills along with three blocks.
Notable
- The errors were numerous for both teams in the opening set, but AU ended the night hitting .333 in the third set after hitting .143 in the first.
- The opening set saw 14 ties and five lead changes, but by the third, the Eagles dominated all the way through.
- GW led 18-15 in the first set before a 3-0 run by AU tightened it up the rest of the way. The Revolutionaries fought off one set point before Hopkins and Uzen put down back-to-back kills for the 26-24 win.
- The Eagles were up just 22-21 before finishing off the second set with two kills and a block, getting both a kill and a block from Stegeman.
- Hopkins and Berisha combined for nine kills in a strong third set that saw the Eagles double up the Revs with a 14-7 advantage in kills.
Next Up
- American will head across the Potomac to face George Mason at 2 p.m. on Saturday, Aug. 26, before returning home to host Georgetown in the annual Bender Blue Out match at 4 p.m. on Sunday, Aug. 27.
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