For senior middle blocker Kelly McCaddin, her jersey number, ’21,’ held a special meaning in AU’s 3-0 victory over University of Maryland Eastern Shore on Oct. 1.
McCaddin celebrated her 21st birthday with three aces in the non-conference match-up at Bender Arena to help the Eagles clinch their seventh consecutive victory.
Head coach Barry Goldberg emphasized McCaddin’s aggressive play and her ability to click with her teammates as a critical factor in the win, and he anticipates future success as a result of the team’s strong middle play.
“We talked about…getting the middles going,” Goldberg said. “I thought Kelly played pretty well and Erin [Swartz], so when we can get our middles going like that it’s going to free up the outside like it did. We’ll be a good team with that.”
AU (11-4, 2-0) dominated the action immediately in the game by capitalizing on repeated errors from the Hawks offense. The Eagles hit a six-point scoring run in the first set to take an 8-2 lead, and their success discouraged University of Maryland Eastern Shore (8-8, 1-0), who resorted to taking an early time-out to reorganize their play.
McCaddin found her rhythm at the end of the first set, delivering two consecutive kills, and senior outside hitter Kristyna Lindovska finished out the set with a kill of her own to put the Hawks away with a score of 25-14. Monika Smidova also added to the offensive efforts in the first set with three aces, setting the tone for AU’s successful serving throughout the night.
“I think we came out strong on our serving game,” said junior outside hitter Sarah Katz.“Maryland Eastern shore definitely attacked well, but we did a good job of serving and passing today.”
Katz, who earned GEICO AU Student-Athlete of the Week honors last week, earned eight kills and nine digs throughout the match to continue her prosperous season.
“Sarah was good, certainly,” Goldberg said. “We got Erin [Swartz] hitting the back set, and so Sarah puts the first ball away, and she starts getting rolling. She’s got a big arm and getting better and better, so [that’s] a good sign that she’s improving, but overall, those two clicking like they are [was] good.”
The Eagles continued to shine as the game progressed, and they claimed the second set 25-15 after seven kills and three aces from Lindovaska. While the Hawks increased their intensity in the final set, they failed to match the endurance and agility of the Eagles, who finished the game with a 25-16 win.
After advancing to the Sweet Sixteen in last year’s NCAA tournament, the AU Eagles volleyball team holds high standards for their level of play, and although they emerged victorious against the University of Maryland Eastern Shore, Goldberg believes his team has a lot to improve on if they hope to continue their winning streak.
“I didn’t think that we came out that competitive,” Goldberg said. “I thought we were in need of a little more aggressiveness at the net, blocking. We hit the ball well the whole day so I was happy with the attacking, that we came out and attacked the ball well, but [we’re] certainly not as good as we need to be defensively on the block.”
The Eagles return to competition on Oct. 4 when the take on the College of Holy Cross at 4:05 p.m. in Worcester, Massachusetts.
