Sep 20, 2005

American Volleyball Survives Against Georgetown, 3-2

Sept. 20, 2005

WASHINGTON - The American University volleyball team used a fierce fifth game attack, killing seven out of eight attempts to put away the home team Georgetown Hoyas Tuesday night, 3-2. Strong play from Cutrina Biddulph (Reseda, Calif./Granada Hills) and Elizabeth Maloney (Toronto, Ontario/Richview C.I.) in the deciding game proved to be the edge for the Eagles.

The Eagles and Hoyas went back and forth throughout the match with the fifth game being no different. AU gained momentum from the start of the last game, running to a 7-3 lead before Georgetown responded with four straight points. American's front line would not be denied in the last five points as they rallied from a 10-11 deficit to reach game point. Along the way Maloney and Biddulph had a kill and a block assist each and Christina Nash (Princeton, Fla./Coral Reef) had two block assists as well.

American was denied twice and head coach Barry Goldberg called a timeout to settle the Eagles. On the next play, the match ended almost anticlimactically when AU received a Hoya serve and set the ball to Biddulph when an overanxious Georgetown middle blocker committed a net violation to end the game.

Maloney had her best match of the season with 20 kills and a hitting percentage of .395. Not in the stat books was her strong serving, which gave the Hoyas problems all night. After starting slowly, Biddulph hit 17 kills and was a monster defensively, notching two solo blocks to go with five block assists. Outside hitter Rubena Sukaj (Tirana, Albania/Asim Vokshi) added 17 kills.

Up until the fifth game, the Eagles struggled to put together consecutive points. AU was inconsistent in serving again as they had 14 service aces but 17 errors.

Defensively, Jen Cosco (Montvale, N.J./Pascack Hills) was all over the place, digging a season-high 24 digs. Setter Tara Stradling (Woodbine, Md./Glenelg) put together a double double with 11 digs and 28 assists.

The Eagles open Patriot League competition at Bender Arena this weekend where they face Bucknell at 7 p.m. Friday and Colgate at 2 p.m. Saturday.