The AU volleyball team swept its weekend series in Bender Arena, improving their record to 22-2 (9-0).
AU defeated Colgate University 3-0 on Friday and Bucknell University 3-0 on Senior Day last Saturday.
AU dominated the floor in both games, taking commanding victories over its two Patriot League opponents.
“It’s amazing when we have a lot of people here,” senior Magdalena Tekiel said. “To perform in front of all the fans is amazing and it helps a lot.”
The Eagles took on the Colgate Raiders on Friday night, and Tekiel continued to dominate, snatching 11 of the team’s 48 kills in the match.
Junior Alexandra Hammer and sophomore Krysta Cicala served up 22 assists and 21 assists, respectively.
Senior Angelina Waterman appeared to struggle on the attack, with nine kills among 24 attempts and four errors.
Senior libero Deborah Frantz had 17 kills in the match, launching her team to its 3-0 victory. The game scores were 25-14, 25-17 and 25-19.
Bucknell
Before Saturday’s game, the five seniors on the squad, Katerina Cinkova, Frantz, Cassandra Ricketts, Tekiel and Waterman, were honored for their contributions to the team over their tenure at AU.
The team started off strong, rushing out to a 13-3 start off of Tekiel’s performance. AU let up on the pressure for a brief period, letting Bucknell close in, before taking the set, 25-11.
The Eagles again took a 13-3 lead in the second set, this time continuing to pressure Bucknell and shutting down its attack en route to the 25-7 win for the set.
Ricketts was a force to be reckoned with during the entire match, launching eight kills and grabbing seven digs.
Going into the third set, Bucknell snagged a small lead, 15-14, as American lost several points in a row.
“We missed a couple hits in a row and probably got frazzled by it,” Ricketts said. “We could have stayed a little more steady. It was a couple errors that caught us off guard.”
After scoring three straight points, the Eagles were able to tip the tables back in their direction and ended the match with a 25-20 game.
“[The win] was the culmination of all of our four years — working hard together, the fun times together,” Ricketts said. “It was an awesome experience.”
Hammer was again a major force during the match, serving up 31 assists on the way to the Eagles’ victory. Frantz led the team again with digs, pulling up 11 in the game.
AU was dominant on the serve, sending nine service aces in the Bison’s direction, while receiving nine from their opponents and scored a .356 hitting percentage.
The Eagles will now finish off their season on the road, playing five consecutive games away from Bender Arena, before the Patriot League playoffs. The team hopes to return home for the playoffs — a win over rival Army will secure home court advantage for the weekend series.
“[We need to] get ready to adapt to different environments and still try to be a better team just by playing the game on the court,” Head Coach Barry Goldberg said.
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