The American University volleyball team (14-4) defeated four Patriot League opponents between Sept. 26 and Oct. 4, sweeping three of them on the road. The Eagles defeated the Navy Midshipmen (7-10) at home before sweeping three opponents on the road: the Loyola Maryland Greyhounds (4-13), the Bucknell Bison (7-10) and the Lehigh Mountain Hawks (9-8).
The Eagles entered this stretch on a high note, defeating the Army Black Knights in four sets on Sept. 20. Production from new faces, namely freshman outside hitter Sophie Dufour and sophomore outside hitter Salme Adeele Hollas, paved the way to American’s success. Dufour and Hollas both shone in this stretch as well.
Sophomore libero Bella Marrero did not play for the Eagles in the first two games of the four after being concussed during the week in practice. Sophomore outside hitter Zedo Yilmaz donned the libero jersey for American against Navy and Loyola.
First in the stretch was a home match against the Navy Midshipmen on Sept. 26. American’s offense took some time to find its rhythm in the first set against Navy, but once the team found its stride, the Eagles were nearly unstoppable.
Navy’s defense kept the Midshipmen within a few points of American in most situations, but the Eagles maintained the lead throughout the set. American won the first set 25-19, and the second set in a similar fashion, 25-20.
American’s hitting prowess proved too much for Navy in the third set, with two kills from Hollas late in the set icing the sweep victory with a 25-15 set score. Hollas’s 11 kills led the team for the day, followed by nine from Dufour and another nine from junior outside hitter Prinzez Zeck.
“Everybody came in with the mentality of doing what we’ve been doing in practice,” Zeck said after the match. “We executed, and that’s part of our team identity.”
The Eagles next traveled to the Loyola Maryland Greyhounds on Sept. 28. The Greyhounds’ two Patriot League wins at the time were home matches that both went to five sets. Loyola hoped to extend the winning streak to three against American, while bucking the trend of the five-set matches. American was hungry to keep its momentum rolling and get through the long road trip as unscathed as possible.
Loyola slowed down the Eagles’ usual fast-start offense, forcing a couple of errors and other miscues for American in the early goings of the match. Much like their match 48 hours prior, the Eagles’ adjustments led to a dominant second and third set, where the result of the match was never in doubt. Dufour’s 16 kills led the Eagles for the day, followed by Hollas and Zeck with nine, and sophomore middle blocker Elise Sterling with eight.
Yilmaz performed admirably in the libero role for the six sets she played in the jersey, putting up 27 digs and 10 assists in the span.
Marrero returned to the lineup for the Eagles’ matches against Bucknell and Lehigh. The team’s first test would be visiting the Bison on Oct. 3.
American won each of its sets against Bucknell by a large margin, sweeping the Bison by scores of 25-17, 25-16 and 25-12. The Eagles took hold of a large lead early in each of the three sets, and didn’t let up, finding runs of anywhere between 2 and 5 points without allowing the Bison a score. The match was over in under an hour and 20 minutes, a quick and decisive victory on the road for American.
The final match of the trip came the next day at Lehigh. The Mountain Hawks gave the Eagles a bit more trouble, finding ways to mitigate American’s strong offense. Despite this, Hollas was still able to rattle off 18 kills for the Eagles on the day, 50 percent more than Dufour’s total of 12. The Eagles’ service was also on point for the match, notching seven aces against Lehigh in three sets.
American defeated the Mountain Hawks in straight sets, 25-19, 25-21 and 25-20.
“It’s a very competitive league,” head coach Ahen Kim said after the match against Loyola. “No matter what the preseason polls say, it’s intimate and personal once you get into league play. Our team did a really good job of getting our feet underneath us and making things happen.”
Hollas led the team in kills for the four-game span, notching 50 kills, followed closely by Dufour’s 47. Hollas also led the team in digs with 39, while Marrero put up 32 in two appearances for the Eagles. Sophomore setter Deniz Dakak led the team in assists with 139, while no other player recorded more than 10. Zeck’s .402 hitting percentage topped American’s standings for the road trip.
Freshman libero Alex Ioannou ranked third in the NCAA in aces at the end of the Loyola match, tallying a total of 37 on the season. She landed two more against Lehigh.
“We’re really competitive right now in practice, we have to bring that standard and that energy into other environments and other arenas, I’m glad we got to do that here,” Kim said.
The Eagles next travel to play the Holy Cross Crusaders on Oct. 18. The team returns home on Oct. 24 to play the Lehigh Mountain Hawks once more.
This article was edited by Penelope Jennings and Walker Whalen. Copy editing done by Sabine Kanter-Huchting, Ryan Sieve, Audrey Smith and Ava Stuzin.
