The American University volleyball team (24-4) are Patriot League champions after defeating the Army Black Knights (19-9) in the conference’s championship match at Bender Arena on Nov. 23. The Eagles swept Army in dominant fashion, winning each of the game’s three sets by at least 7 points.
American went 15-1 in conference play throughout the season, which paved their way to the Patriot League’s #1 seed, and hosting the semifinals and final of the conference’s championship tournament. The team’s win streak extended back 16 matches, including a defeat of the Navy Midshipmen in straight sets to advance to the final.
Army’s hitting prowess carried the Black Knights past two opponents in the tournament. They defeated the Lehigh Mountain Hawks in three sets on Nov. 18 and then the defending Patriot League champion Colgate Raiders in five sets on Nov. 21. Army has two All-Patriot League First Team outside hitters on their team in seniors Mackenzie Lynch and Chloe Murakami. Lynch posted 25 kills in that match against Colgate.
The Eagles had played Army two times previously in the regular season, defeating the Black Knights in four sets at home on Sept. 20 and on the road in three sets on Oct. 31.
Lynch accounted for 80 percent of the Black Knights’ offense in the opening points of the first set, hitting 4 kills in the first 12 points. American, however, responded, firing back with 5 of their own to put them up 2 points at that mark. The Eagles’ lead lengthened from there, with key contributions coming from sophomore outside hitter Salme Adeele Hollas and junior middle blocker Prinzez Zeck. Both players feasted on Army’s defense throughout the day and combined for 7 kills in the set. American won the first set with relative ease, 25-17.
The Black Knights held the Eagles close in the second set, tying the score up at 7 points each and not allowing American to tear off on a big run. After the 7-7 tie, American did just that, posting a 9-2 run that burned both of Army’s timeouts, then another 9-3 run to close out the set. Freshman outside hitter Sophie Dufour got involved from the front line in the second set, notching 3 kills and an ace as the Eagles took the second set decisively in a 25-12 victory for American.
In potentially the last set of her college career, Murakami showed out against the Eagles. Throughout the 47-point set, she hit 8 kills, accounting for over a third of the Black Knights’ offensive effort. The issue Murakami found was that Zeck and Hollas paced her, matching her efforts kill for kill in the set. The Eagles’ offense was just too much for the Black Knights to handle, and Zeck closed out the match with her 11th kill to secure the Patriot League Championship for the Eagles with a 25-18 set victory.
Zeck hit a perfect 1.000 on the day, with 11 kills to her name, leading the team in both hitting percentage and kills. This performance set a record for the best hitting performance for a single player in the history of the league’s championship match. The team overall hit .529, also a new championship game record.
“It kind of feels like it’s not real,” Zeck said. “I did not expect this, but I’m so grateful to our coach, and I’m so thankful for this opportunity in the first place.”
Patriot League Player and Setter of the Year, sophomore Deniz Dakak, led the team with 29 assists and was named Patriot League Tournament MVP for her efforts in the matches against Navy and Army.
“I looked at my coaching staff, and I said ‘That’s undefendable.’ [Zeck] and DD [Dakak] are working together to create some undefendable swings, and it’s pretty unreal,” head coach Ahen Kim said.
Zeck, Hollas and Dakak were all also named to the Patriot League’s All-Tournament Team, a lineup rounded out by Lynch, Murakami, Colgate junior outside hitter Milan Bayless and Navy freshman outside hitter Caroline Buffum.
Kim mentioned that most of the roster arrived at American in the summer to build relationships with each other and grow as a team and did so unprompted by the coaching staff.
“It started there with buying in, making that commitment. They could have done anything else with the summer, but they wanted to invest in this thing. I’m so glad it paid off for them,” Kim said.
American, by winning the tournament, secured an automatic bid into the NCAA Women’s Volleyball Championship Tournament and will be placed into the bracket during the selection show on Nov. 30.
This article was edited by Matthias Jaylen Sandoval, Penelope Jennings and Walker Whalen. Copy editing done by Sabine Kanter-Huchting and Avery Grossman.
