It was a Tuesday night game in Bender Arena before a few hundred people, and it only took the AU Volleyball team 72 minutes to easily dispose of Loyola (Md.).
You couldn't have asked for a more fitting setting for low-key coach Barry Goldberg's 400th win, each of which had come with AU for the school's longest-tenured coach.
But even Goldberg could take a moment to feel good about the mark, which put him 37th in NCAA history in wins.
"It's a nice milestone, I guess," Goldberg said. "In 17 years, I guess something like that can happen sooner or later."
He then quickly turned the subject away from himself and to the match, which the Eagles (2-1) took, 3-0 (30-18, 30-9, 30-25).
Despite a sloppy game three in which AU hit .235, the Eagles controlled most of the match. Freshman outside hitter Rubena Sukaj had a breakout performance, nailing a game-high 16 kills. She and junior outside hitter Elizabeth Maloney combined for 10 of AU's 12 aces as AU's relentless serving overwhelmed the Greyhounds (0-1).
The match also may have helped solidify sophomore Tara Stradling's position as the team's top setter. She passed out 38 assists and played every game. She split time in the first two matches with freshman Christina Nash, who accumulated 44 assists in that period.
Although this is Stradling's second season, she has little more experience than Nash because she played only 18 games as a freshman. But on a team with four newcomers that is still searching for consistency, whoever gets hot will play.
"They're going to go back and forth a little bit," Goldberg said. "We're trying to get something established. Tara has been fairly steady here. She's played well. We let her start the match and she got us on a roll. I want to reward those that are playing well right now because we're a little up and down at times."
Next for the Eagles is this weekend's tournament at Manhattan that also includes Quinnipiac and Wofford.
But it's not those matches that Goldberg lives for. It's the big schools he wants, and he hasn't struck luck with them yet as AU is 0-6 in the NCAA tournament.
AU dropped its first marquee match against Colorado last Saturday, but Goldberg's attitude is that if he sticks to the way he's reached his 400-154 record, the big upset will come.
"When I first got the job here, I told our team at the beginning that it's a matter of time before we win our conference - at that time the [Colonial Athletic Association]," Goldberg said. "It took us seven years to do it, and I think it's the same kind of thing [to beat] these big-time teams. I think it's a matter of time, step by step and sooner or later, we'll make our mark on other teams here. We're going to keep chipping away until that happens"
