AU Volleyball senior Karla Kucerkova can chalk up another award to her many accolades, which by now have become routine.
Kucerkova earned Patriot League Player of the Week honors as her team (7-8 overall, 4-0 PL) swept a weekend road trip by beating Holy Cross, 3-1, and Army, 3-0.
Kucerkova's recognition was undoubtedly spurred by an outstanding performance Friday in Worcester, Mass. The outside hitter soared for a .480 attack percentage en route to match bests of 27 kills and 24 digs.
She capped the weekend at West Point, N.Y., with 21 kills and 10 digs while hitting .486.
The Eagles started with a bang against Holy Cross (4-13 overall, 1-3 PL), smacking them 30-19 in game one. The Crusaders gave AU a scare in the second round, squeaking by 30-28 to win only its second game of the year. The Eagles returned the favor in the third game with a narrow 30-28 win and slammed the door on the match with a 30-16 game-four win.
Army (10-8 overall, 2-2 PL) hit a dreadful .085 Saturday in a rematch of last year's conference semifinal. They came within five points of AU in the opener, but couldn't do more as they fell, 30-20. The Eagles were taken to the limit in the second game, but junior Natacha Cornaz swatted a kill to seal a 30-27 win. They then held off the Black Knights 30-23 to take the match.
Junior Courtney Mulford saw more action in these matches as she played in every game to split the setter position with junior Sabrina Vasconcelos. Mulford led the Eagles with 20 assists against Army and chipped in 16 helpers against Holy Cross.
Freshman Elizabeth Maloney had a breakthrough outing on Sept. 27 versus Lafayette and continued to show positive signs last weekend. She hit .250 and had four kills against the Crusaders, but did not see action against Army.
Volleyball hosts two PL rivals facing Bucknell on Friday, Oct. 10 at 7 p.m. and Colgate on Saturday, Oct. 11 at 2 p.m.
