AU Volleyball Takes to the Road This Weekend

Oct. 16, 2008

WASHINGTON - The American University volleyball team will hit the road for the first time in a month this weekend as it travels north to play Bucknell and Colgate in Patriot League competition. The Eagles will first play Bucknell on Friday, Oct. 17, at 7 p.m. in Lewisburg, Pa., and then will continue north to Hamilton, N.Y., to play Colgate on Saturday, Oct. 18, at 4 p.m.

Upcoming Schedule

Last Time Out

The American University volleyball team extended its winning streak to eight matches on Wednesday with a 3-0 win over the University of Maryland Eastern Shore. Senior Rubena Sukaj scored a match-high 16 kills in the win while freshman Rebecca Heath added 13. The Eagles win came by set scores of 26-24, 25-20, 25-16.

Sukaj led all scorers in the match with her 16 kills and finished the match with a .393 hitting percentage. Heath was a close second in the scoring race as she notched 13 kills, two aces and hit .312. Senior Christina Nash dished out 34 assists in the victory and guided the Eagles to a combined .287 hitting percentage.

On the defensive side of the net, junior Ivana Cebakova led the charge with 17 digs as AU held the Hawks to a combined .081 hitting percentage, marking the fourth time this season American has held its opponent below .100. The Eagles also combined for seven total blocks. Recht recorded one solo block and three block assists and Ricketts chipped in four block assists.

Eagles News & Notes

• The Eagles have won eight straight matches and hold a record of 13-6, 5-0 PL, heading into the weekend. 10 of AU's 13 wins have come in straight sets, 3-0. AU also owns a 13-match winning streak against PL opponents dating back to last season.
•  Senior outside hitter Rubena Sukaj became the PL's all-time leader in kills on Sept. 12, scoring 14 kills against Harvard. The following day Sukaj became the conference's all-time leader in aces when she recorded two against Dartmouth. Sukaj now has 1,903 career kills, 275 career aces and also holds the American University record for each.
• Freshman Rebecca Heath set a Patriot League record last week for most consecutive PL Rookie of the Week honors with her fifth straight. Heath's five weekly awards from the conference ties the record for most in a season. Rubena Sukaj also set a new PL mark with her 12th career PL Player of the Week honor last week and is one award shy of tying her 2007 record of five weekly awards in one season.
• Senior setter Christina Nash has moved into the sixth spot on the PL's all-time assists list and is still moving up. Nash has recorded 3,488 career assists and is 321 assists shy of tying Lehigh's Patty Watson for fifth all-time in the conference. Nash is currently third on AU's career list and is 727 behind Tricia Gilbert, '91, for second all-time.
•  Junior libero Ivana Cebakova has tallied 1,071 career digs and is second all-time at AU behind only Natasha Sylvain's, '95, career mark of 1,865. Cebakova also entered the season as the school's career leader in digs per set at 3.78 and this season is averaging 3.64.
• With her seventh block assist last Saturday against NJIT, junior Claire Recht moved into fifth place on AU's career total blocks list. Recht now has 206 total blocks in her career and is 110 behind Natasha Sylvain, `95, for fourth all-time. Her 179 career block assists also put her at fifth in school history. Recht needs 50 block assists to tie Sylvain for fourth.
• The Eagles currently rank first in the PL in hitting percentage (.281), blocks per set (2.15) and service aces (2.16). AU also ranks second in assists per set (11.74), kills per set (13.18) and third in opponent hitting percentage (.196). Individually, Sukaj leads the conference with 4.18 kps and is second in aces at 0.54. Sophomore Katerina Cinkova leads the PL in blocks per set at 1.05 and is followed closely by junior Claire Recht who ranks second at 0.97. Recht is also second in the conference with a .360 hitting percentage and Nash ranks second in assists with 10.09. Cebakova is third with 3.54 dps.

Scouting the Opponents

Bucknell (8-13, 3-2): The Bison are coming off two straight losses last week as they dropped straight-set matches to both Cal State Fullerton and Cal State Bakersfield, 3-0. In PL play, Bucknell is 3-2 with 3-0 wins over Navy, Holy Cross and most recently Colgate. Bucknell is led offensively by Kaitlin Segal who is averaging 3.27 kps and Shannon Pitsch who is averaging 6.41 aps. Defensively, Segal again leads the charge with 2.21 dps and is complimented by Heidi Kamp and Anne Ellenberger on the block with 0.65 and 0.63 bps, respectively.

AU is 21-2 all-time against Bucknell after defeating the Bison at home on Sept. 27, 3-0.

Colgate (7-11, 2-3): The Raiders defeated Cornell in their last time out, 3-1, after dropping two consecutive PL matches to Army, 3-1, and Buckell, 3-0. Colgate's lone PL wins this season came against Navy and Holy Cross, both in straight sets. Colgate is led on the attack by Katrina Zawojski's 3.74 kps and Meghan Fanta's 9.00 aps. On the other side of the net, Jackie Adlam leads the team at 3.90 dps and Casey Ritt chips in 0.61 bps.

The Eagles are 16-1 all-time against Colgate and last defeated the Raiders on Sept. 26 at home, 3-0.