Oct 24, 2007
AU Volleyball Moves Past Morgan State, 3-1
Oct. 24, 2007
WASHINGTON - The American University volleyball team won its second-straight match Wednesday night and its first in non-conference play in over a month, 3-1 at Morgan State. The victory puts the Eagles at 17-7 overall and Morgan State at 8-15.
American nearly swept the Bears in straight games but had to settle for the victory in four, 30-13, 30-27, 30-32 and 30-24. The Eagles hit .298 as a team, recording 81 kills on 188 attempts. Morgan State on the other hand hit just .190 with 50 kills on 153 attempts.
Three Eagles scored double-doubles Wednesday night and four hit double-digits in kills. Rubena Sukaj notched her seventh kills-digs double-double of the season with 21 and 17, respectively. Sukaj's dig total also marked a new career high for the junior. Normally a libero, Ivana Cebakova moved to outside hitter against the Bears and recorded just the second double-double of her career. Cebakova smashed a career high 17 kills in the match and dug 18 balls. Christina Nash also joined the double-double party, her fourth of the year, dishing out a career high 64 assists and tallying 11 digs. Cassandra Ricketts and Chelsa Brooks each had double-digit kills. Ricketts set a new career mark with 18 spikes and finished with a .382 percentage. Brooks meanwhile tallied 11 kills and committed just three errors in four games. Cynammon Burns also put up career numbers in the victory, registering 14 digs.
American broke open the first game after finding itself tied with Morgan State at seven. Powered by a well rounded scoring attack, AU would go on a 23-6 run, winning the game 30-13. Ricketts and Cebakova were the high scorers in the game, each notching seven points.
The Eagles battled back from a seven point deficit in game two, rallying to win 30-27. Down 10-3, Ricketts and Cebakova each stepped up for American, hitting .500 in the game and bringing the team back to tie the score at 20. Cebakova smashed seven kills and dug six balls in game two while Ricketts recorded six kills.
AU lost game three, 32-30, despite holding a five point advantage over the Bears, 17-12. Sukaj came out of her shell in the third frame with nine kills, but the combination of Ivanti Bush and Jeniqua Moran was too much for the Eagles to handle as each tallied six kills in the win.
AU gained a lead early in game four but struggled to hold it. After eight ties and three lead changes, the Eagles finally broke away from Morgan State with a 7-1 run and earned match point, 30-24. Sukaj totaled eight kills in the stanza while Brooks hit four.
The Eagles will return home to Bender Arena on Friday, Oct. 26, when the Midshipmen of Navy make the voyage south to Washington, D.C. The 7 p.m. match-up will be the second of the season for the two. Previously, on Sept. 28, AU traveled to the Naval Academy where it fought its way to a 3-2 victory.
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