Oct 31, 2007
AU Volleyball Topples N.J.I.T. 3-0
Oct. 31, 2007
WASHINGTON - The American University volleyball team won yet another match in Bender Arena Wednesday night, 3-0 over the New Jersey Institute of Technology. The win is American's 14th at home this season and moves the Eagles to 19-7 overall, while N.J.I.T. is set back to 11-20.
Game scores for the match were 30-16, 30-26 and 30-20, all in favor of AU. American hit .283 in the three games highlighted by a .344 percentage in game one. The Eagles also blocked 10 shots in the winning effort while allowing just 31 Highlander kills.
In her third-straight match as an outside hitter, Ivana Cebakova recorded her second double-double of the season. The sophomore from the Czech Republic scored 12 kills on 28 attempts while stifling the N.J.I.T. offense with 11 defensive digs. Cebakova also served two aces and blocked two attacks. Chelsa Brooks gave yet another solid performance since beginning PL play Wednesday night by hitting eight of 12 on the attack with a .417 percentage and assisting on six blocks. Three other Eagles, Christina Nash, Claire Recht and Cassandra Ricketts, joined Brooks' block party, notching four block assists each. Rubena Sukaj was American's leading scorer, totaling 13 kills and four aces while Ricketts nearly missed a double-digit kills performance, finishing her night with nine. The offense of Cebakova, Sukaj and Ricketts was run through the reigning PL Player of the Week, Nash, who dished out 38 assists.
American began its night with a 10-2 run to open game one. Sukaj was responsible for four points during the run including acing the Highlanders on three of four serves. Ricketts also helped push the Eagles to the early lead, recording all three of her first period kills in the game's first 12 plays. AU tallied its highest hitting percentage in the frame, .344, with 14 kills and just three errors en route to a 30-16 victory.
After gaining an early 7-4 lead, the Eagles found themselves trailing N.J.I.T. midway through game two. Down 13-12, Nash found Ricketts on the outside for a kill that tied the game up and began a back-and-fourth battle between the teams who were knotted seven more times before AU took the final lead, 25-24, and earned game point, 30-26.
AU again started quickly in game three, jumping out to a 5-0 lead. N.J.I.T. fought its way back though and brought the game back to within two points, 10-8. From there the play of both teams leveled out and the Eagles slowly built their lead back up. American eventually earned match point, 30-20, after Nash found Brooks in the middle of the court on consecutive plays.
American will head out of town this weekend for a two-match PL set. First, on Friday, Nov. 2, the Eagles will play the Bison of Bucknell in Lewisburg, Pa. at 7 p.m. On Saturday, Nov. 3, American's road trip continues its way north to Hamilton, N.Y. where it will face the Raiders of Colgate. The match, which is scheduled for a 2 p.m. start, will feature the PL's top two teams. Both the Eagles and Raiders head into play this weekend with a 9-1 conference record with just four matches remaining to determine the seeding for the Patriot League Tournament.
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