BALTIMORE, Md. – It took a resilient effort for the American University volleyball team to stave off one of Loyola Maryland's best games of the season on Wednesday night, but the Eagles came from behind two sets to one to defeat the Greyhounds in five. Junior middle blocker
Elise Sterling carried AU with a dominant performance, hitting a career-high 22 kills on a .450 percentage.
Notable
- With the win, AU remains in sole possession of first pace in the Patriot League with a 13-1 conference record. The Eagles are 18-5 overall.
- Tonight marks the sixth time this year that Sterling has hit .400 or better with at least 11 kills.
- Sterling was supported by Deniz Dakak, who dished out 56 assists and filled the stat sheet with 16 digs, five kills, and two blocks. Tonight was her 13th double-double of the season and her fifth straight.
- Prinzez Zeck and Carly Sciborksi added to a stellar attacking night up front for the Eagles, with Sciborski swinging for 16 kills and Zeck with 12. Zeck hit a scorching .579, and Sciborski followed at .333.
- Freshman Gabbie Vizek joined in as well, putting down a career-high five kills with just one error to hit .500
- Sophie Dufour contributed nine kills from the outside, while Salme Hollas made her impact defensively with nine digs.
- Libero Bella Marrero kept several points alive for AU, leading the team with 19 digs. The junior now sits seventh in program history in career digs with 1,129 to her name, passing Megan Rosburg ('14). She has 370 in what's been a tremendous season.
How it Happened
Set 1: American 25, Loyola 22
- The Eagles got out to a strong start, controlling the first set and taking a comfortable win.
- They went on a 6-1 run early to grab a 9-5 lead, and never let the Greyhounds within two from there.
- Zeck and Sciborski each logged four kills, and Sterling started her night with three.
Set 2: Loyola 25, American 22
- Loyola bounced back in the second frame, flipping the first set's score. It was the Greyhounds best set of the night, hitting .455 as a team with 16 kills.
- The home side jumped out to a 9-4 lead after two kills from Morgan Crawford and one from Addie Lowe, followed by a block from Lowe and Ellie Joffe.
- They reached their largest lead of the match at 17-11, and closed it out from there.
Set 3: Loyola 27, American 25
- Loyola came out on top of the tightest set of the match, despite seven kills from Sterling.
- The win was solidified by a late push from the Greyhounds, who trailed 18-14 and took seven of the next 10 points to take the lead.
- Ava Nepkin led Loyola with five kills, while Sydnee Peters had three.
Set 4: American 25, Loyola 16
- The Eagles dominated the fourth stanza, hitting .548 and putting down 19 kills.
- AU never trailed and took the largest lead of the match at 20-9. With the score 11-8 to American, the Eagles scored seven straight points to pull away.
- Sterling had seven kills again, followed by four from Zeck and three from Sciborski.
Set 5: American 15, Loyola 10
- AU remained composed after a threatening start from Loyola in the fifth frame. The Greyhounds took a 6-3 lead after Joffe and Lowe combined for a block of Sterling, then Jenny Glenn called timeout.
- Out of the break, AU went to Sciborski for a kill, then back-to-back blocks tied the match. Sterling and Dakak partnered for the first denial, then Sterling and Sam McMillan for the second.
- Eventually tied 9-9 after a Dufour kill, the Eagles finished the match emphatically with a 7-1 run headlined by Zeck. She struck two straight kills, then her and Sciborski denied Nepkin for the game-winning block.
Up Next
- AU closes out this road trip at Navy on Friday, Nov. 6. First serve is set for 6 p.m.
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