The AU women’s volleyball team remained undefeated this season as they swept the Sacred Heart Invitational for their second consecutive tournament win on Sept. 4-5 which saw Junior Kelly McCaddin and Junior Megan Rosburg be named to the All-Tournament team.
The Eagles beat host team Sacred Heart, Manhattan College and University of Maryland-Eastern Shore, the first three games of an 11-game road trip.
The first game of the tournament took place against host Sacred Heart, who posed little threat as AU dominated 25-14. The second set started off closer, but AU pulled away with a 25-16 score on the strength of a 6-2 run. During the third set, Sacred Heart got the closest to obtaining a lead, but AU closed out the set and the match with a 5-2 run, winning the final set 25-21.
Junior Kristyna Lindovska led AU with 13 kills on the night. The assist leader for AU was Junior Monika Smidova with 28.
The second match of the tournament for AU was against Manhattan College. Throughout the first set, there would be several lead changes and 10 ties. Eventually, it would be AU who fell as an AU error gave Manhattan the set 26-24.
The second set was almost a continuation of the first as both AU and Manhattan battled to gain an advantage. AU would lead throughout the entire set but still dealt with multiple Manhattan counter attacks looking to tie the set. The Eagles would escape the set with a narrow 25-23.
AU regained their dominant performance in the third as they broke the set open early, eventually developing a 16-10 lead. After two points by Manhattan, AU went on a 9-1 run to close out the set, winning it 25-13.
The fourth set was more of the same as the Eagles dominated the entire way, winning 25-14 and improving their overall record to 5-0.
For AU, McCaddin led them with 14 kills and Smidova registered her first double-double of the year with 49 assists and 14 digs.
The third match of the tournament on Sept. 5 was against UMES. Unlike the first two matches, this one proved to be little challenge as the Eagles dominated throughout against winless UMES.
The first set was dominated by the Eagles as they took a 14-3 lead and they eventually won 25-13. The second set was more of the same as AU took an early 13-4 lead and en route to a 25-12 victory. The third set was slightly more of a challenge as UMES managed to cut the Eagle lead at one point. However, the Eagles were not in danger of losing as they won the third set 25-15 and swept the match and the tournament 3-0.
For AU, Junior Sarah Katz and McCaddin each had 11 kills and Smidova had 22 assists.
The next game for the Eagles will be Sept. 11 at Coppin State.
