AU Women’s Volleyball regained their rhythm Wednesday night in Bender Arena, as they easily put away the Coppin State Eagles 3-0, despite tough previous losses to Marquette and Florida State.
AU (4-2, 0-0) demonstrated their strength from the opening point as senior setter Monika Smidova secured the first block of the game and established early confidence for her team. Coppin State (4-4) struggled to find their flow initially, but the players communicated openly between each other and stayed within three points of AU for the early part of the first set.
Midway through the first set, senior libero Megan Rosburg fired a smashing ace through the Coppin State court that rallied her teammates and led to a scoring rush. Smidova also added a second ace several points later to continue the high pace of play. AU connected easily with the ball, and their kill statistics represent the fluidity of their game.
“We had a game plan to try and go after the middle of their arena. They have good middle hitters, but blocking wise we knew that our play sets were usually pretty tough, so [we] were able to run the middle pretty easily today at times,” head coach Barry Goldberg said.
Junior outside hitters Sarah Katz and Allison Cappellino led AU’s offensive efforts in the first set and recorded four kills each. Cappellino, the team’s leader in kills and digs, demonstrated her expertise as a server in the final point of the first set by delivering an ace that secured the score at 25-15.
Coppin State entered the second set fresh and earned the first point, but they failed to stop AU’s controlled energy. Carrying momentum from earlier in the game, Cappellino added six kills to her game total in the second set, while Katz and senior middle blocker Kelly McCaddin also secured five kills each.
Freshman Erin Swartz emerged as a key link for AU, and she recorded five kills in the second set to help her team earn their second set victory with a score of 25-13. The second set proved to be the strongest for the team, as they earned a .409 hitting percentage, which was their highest of the game.
“I felt like I played pretty well tonight. Monika [Smidova] and I were connecting well so that always helps,” Swatz said. “Both Kelly and I were finding good success out of the middle and on the side, so it was good.”
With a comfortable 2-0 lead, the Eagles entered the third set with excitement and confidence. They lost the first point, but quickly hit their stride and racked up four points before Coppin State recovered. As AU inched closer to game point in the third set, Coppin State hit a surge and accumulated three consecutive points before McCaddin ended the game with a forceful kill.
The Eagles face a tough schedule ahead as they take on No. 3 Pennsylvania State University, No. 24 University of Kansas, and Villanova University over the course of a three-day tournament in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.
“Certainly Penn State, a top team in the country, is going to test our block and our attacking if we can really hang in and there and get physical, since they are one of the most physical teams in the country,” head coach Barry Goldberg said. “Villanova is also a very good team and has moments of being really good so we are going to have our work cut out for us this weekend.”
Swartz agreed with her coach, but anticipates the game with great excitement.
“I’m really looking forward to tough competition, some good games, exciting games,” Swartz said. “I’m really excited to play this weekend.”
