Volleyball had a roller coaster weekend, losing its first Patriot League game this season to Army 3-1 on Friday and winning against Holy Cross 3-0 on Saturday.
Since the team entered the Patriot League in 2001, the Eagles defeated all of their league opponents except the Army Black Knights. Unfortunately for AU, history repeated itself on Friday.
The teams were neck-and-neck for the win in game one, exchanging possession of the lead 10 times throughout play. The Eagles eventually tied the score at 18 off of a Black Knight error. AU then took control of the court and pulled off a 30-26 win.
Similar to game one, the Knights and the Eagles traded control of the win several times in game two. The Eagles held strong until an attack error gave Army control of the scoreboard. However, the Eagles would not falter, taking back the lead off an ace served by junior Christina Nash. The Knights soon responded, tying up the score off a kill. The game was tied up three more times until Army finally earned game point at 29-31.
Falling behind early, the Eagles were whistling a different tune in game three. Unable to recover from an early Army lead, the game was never truly close as AU lost 26-30.
Game four brought excitement to the court. The Eagles played catch-up as they trailed 22-12. Head coach Barry Goldberg called a time-out and rallied the women to regain control of the court. The team lessened the lead to three points, but could not pull through for an overall win. Army went on to beat the Eagles 26-30.
Although the Eagles lost to their Black Knight rivals, the team still contributed many impressive plays to the court. Junior Rubena Sukaj recorded a match-high of 27 kills while her sophomore teammate Ivana Cebakova had 23 digs.
With one loss behind it, the team was able to regain composure and fire out a win Saturday against Holy Cross. During game one, the Eagles scored early and kept the lead. Cebakova and Cassandra Ricketts greatly contributed to the game one win, gaining a majority of the points with a total of six aces.
The Crusaders were not giving up in game two and attempted to keep the score as close as possible. However, the Eagles capitalized on opposing errors and took hold of a 12-6 lead. AU held the lead and finished with a game point total of 30-23.
Down 4-1 in the beginning of game three, the Eagles needed to act fast. A Tara Stradling ace and a Claire Recht kill were the answer to the Eagle point deficit, tying up the score at 4. The scoring flood gates opened from there. Sukaj hit three straight aces to give AU a 10-5 lead. The Crusaders were unable to fight back and lost the game 30-23.
The match win brings the Eagles' overall record to 16-7 and their Patriot League record moves to 8-1. AU will travel to face the Morgan State Bears on Wednesday.
