WASHINGTON - It was a perfect weekend at home for American University volleyball as the Eagles closed it out with a victory over Marist (2-4), dropping only one set while going 3-0 in Bender Arena against Maryland Eastern Shore, Central Connecticut State, and Marist. In the final match, AU (5-1) dropped the opening set 25-23 but went on to win the rest 25-18, 25-10 and 25-23.
- By the Numbers
- The Eagles served up 16 aces which ranks as the most for the program in seven years, since a 3-0 win at Delaware State in 2016. Senior Maya Mrus served up a career-high six aces to lead the way.
- Freshman Holly Hopkins, already the reigning PL Rookie of the Week, put herself in a strong position to earn that title again as she led all players with a career-high 20 kills.
- The Eagles got another strong performance from graduate student Zeynep Uzen with 17 kills and 10 digs, marking her third double-double of the season.
- Also with another double-double, her second today, was Esma Sipahi with 48 assists and 10 digs.
- Grad student Carlie Fikse recorded eight kills and five blocks, while freshman Carly Sciborski posted seven kills with six blocks.
- The blocking game was very strong for AU with 12 overall, and leading the way was junior Lilou Stegeman with a career-high seven blocks along with five kills on 10 attempts with zero errors.Â
Notable
- The first set was extremely tight throughout with 15 ties and 12 lead changes, but after the final tie at 23-23, the Red Foxes strung together a pair of kills for the 25-23 victory.
- AU battled back to take the second set 25-18 behind six kills from Uzen and five from Hopkins, and the Eagles really came alive in the third.
- Hitting .429 while holding Marist to a negative percentage, American cruised to a 25-10 win for a 2-1 match lead.
- Six blocks in third helped the cause for the Eagles, as Marist had none.
- Trailing 21-18 in the fourth set, AU rallied to take a 23-22 lead. Marist tied it up one more time, but a Hopkins kill was followed by a block for Sciborski and Fikse to win it for AU.
Next Up
- American will play its next eight games away from home, starting with a road trip to California next weekend to play Cal State Fullerton and Loyola Marymount.
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