The AU women's volleyball team won their first two Patriot League matches this weekend, besting Holy Cross, 3-0, on Friday and Army, 3-1, on Saturday.
The Eagles rolled to an easy victory over the Crusaders on Friday, holding the advantage in kills and hitting percentage. Senior captain Elizabeth Maloney tied Holy Cross' Liz Auger for a match-high 11 kills, while junior Chelsa Brooks contributed eight kills.
Help from the underclassmen pushed the Eagles ahead, with freshman Ivana Cebakova tallying seven kills. Freshman Anne Recht and sophomore Rubena Sukaj contributed six kills apiece, helping the Eagles to 47 kills on the match, significantly greater than the Crusaders' 31 kills.
American also outhit Holy Cross, finishing with a .305 attacking percentage while holding the Crusaders to a low .045.
The Eagles pulled much of the same on Saturday, dropping only one match to Army to take the 3-1 victory. The win marked American's fifth straight and improved their Patriot League record to 2-0.
AU dug deep after a first-game loss to the Black Knights, dominating the second two matches and coming behind from an 18-13 deficit to take the fourth game for the victory.
Team veterans Brooks, Maloney and Sukaj put up big numbers for the Eagles, helping American to a .262 attacking percentage for the match. Brooks hit .464 with 16 kills, while Sukaj and Maloney had 24 and 13 kills, respectively.
"We had a slow start, but remained patient and kept pounding the ball at them," said head coach Barry Goldenberg in an interview with AUEagles.com. "Eventually that aggressiveness and a better defensive effort led us to the win."
American hosts Navy on Thursday and Maryland Eastern Shore on Friday. Both games will start at 7 p.m. at Bender Arena.
