The AU volleyball team closed out the weekend with two home victories against Bucknell University and Colgate University to start Patriot League play 2-0 and boost its overall mark to 8-9.
“Going through all these preseason matches, it’s hard to tell how good your team is,” Head Coach Barry Goldberg said. “Starting with the league this week, we knew this was going to be a big week.”
Eagles roll past Bucknell at home
In the Sept. 23 game against the Bucknell Bison (3-8, 0-2), the Eagles cruised to a 3-0 victory with set scores of 25-22, 25-11 and 25-16.
“It was a fun match for us,” outside hitter Rebecca Heath said. “I think it was the first time that, for three sets in a row, we really clicked as a team. We’re a young team, we have a lot of new players, so that’s kind of big for us to understand that we have that rhythm with each other.”
AU recorded 16 kills in the first set, including four apiece from Heath, Sara Rishell and Morgan Hendrix. The heavy offense coupled with 12 digs defensively proved to be too much for the Bison, who fell 25-22.
The Eagles came out strong again for the second set, as Rishell and Heath continued to boost their offensive totals while AU sailed to a 25-11 set victory.
After trailing 9-6 in the third set, AU took control when it scored six consecutive points highlighted by three straight Juliana Crum kills for the 25-16 clincher.
AU takes down Colgate at Bender Arena
The Eagles finished out the weekend Sept. 24 with a 3-1 victory over Colgate, defeating the Raiders (4-10, 1-1) by set scores of 22-25, 25-16, 25-21 and 25-17. Crum posted a game-high 15 kills, with Hendrix totaling 14 and Rishell 13.
Despite a close battle that saw 10 ties in the opening set, AU couldn’t close the deal and lost 25-22. With Colgate clinging to a 21-20 lead, the Raiders won four of the next six points to secure the opening victory.
“We didn’t get those big points we needed to get [in the first game], so we came out for the second game and said, ‘Let’s take control of this match,’” Hendrix said.
The strategy worked for the Eagles, who earned a 25-16 victory in the second set. After racking up 17 kills in the first game, Colgate was only able to total eight in the second.
The third game saw the Eagles start quickly by jumping out to a 14-8 lead and prevail for a 25-21 win and a 2-1 advantage.
With the fourth set tied at 13, AU went on a 12-4 run to pick up the victory and improve to 2-0 in conference play.
“We had a number of good performances from people today, and that was important,” Goldberg said.
AU will next host Morgan State University Sept. 27 before traveling to take on the Army Black Knights Sept. 30.
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