AU volleyball notched another win on Friday night with a 3-0 win against Navy.
After a disappointing result six days earlier against Colgate, the Eagles rolled to an easy 25-16, 25-15, 25-23 straight set victory.
The team came out of the gates fast and furious, jumping out to an early lead in the first set. Thanks to an impressive 6-0 run, the Eagles were able to gain momentum. Navy was able to stick with the Eagles as they fought hard to get the score to 14-10. This was as close as Navy would get in the first set, however. American extended their lead to 17-10 following a Navy error.
Errors plagued Navy all game, and they gave up big points as a result. They finished up the first set giving up an error on AU’s first set point.
The second set saw much of the same from the dominating Eagles. AU yet again used an impressive 6-0 run to jump out to a lead. AU was able to continue to open the lead. At one point, the team was up by 12 points at 17-5. AU did not see much resistance the rest of the game and won the second set easily, going into half time with a 2-0 lead in the match.
Navy did their best to fight their way back into the match, as they made the third set the most competitive of the match. The Eagles again jumped out to an early big lead of 11-5. Navy fought back, however, and stayed tight with the teams sharing the score on eight separate different occasions. AU never tailed and was able to take the important two-point lead and won the third set 25-23.
Sophomore Rebecca Heath led the way for the Eagles with 11 kills, two aces and three digs. Claire Recht was the largest contributor to the team with four total blocks, while Krysta Cicala added 29 assists to the team’s winning efforts.
As a team, the Eagles had an impressive .326 hitting percentage for the match, while committing only 11 errors across the three sets.
The team will return to action on Tuesday night in Bender Arena when they face William and Mary. AU is sitting at 9-9 on the season with a 3-2 record in the Patriot League. The team has won the Patriot League for the last nine years.
You can reach this writer at sports@theeagleonline.com.
