The American University Eagles (11-4) defeated their crosstown opponents, the Howard University Bison (4-11), on Sept. 8. The victory marked the Eagles’ first since the Best Western Invitational, where they went 1-2, the lone win versus Northern Kentucky.
The Eagles banked on excellent play from their middle blockers to defeat Howard in straight sets as they returned to their hot early-season form, where they defeated two power-five opponents in Northwestern (7-6) and Virginia (5-6).
Junior libero Isabella Marrero led the Eagles to a 5-1 start with two aces to begin the first set. The Bison bounced back from an early deficit, bringing the set to a 9-8 score. The match stayed tight as neither team could gain serious momentum.
Freshman outside hitter Addison Buckner kept the Bison in the match by posting 4 kills before the match’s first timeout. After the stoppage, the Eagles took momentum with 3 straight points.
The Eagles took advantage of their dominant start and ran away with the first set, 25-19. Middle Blocker duo junior Elise Sterling and senior Priznez Zeck both shone for the Eagles, with 3 kills each in the first set.
Howard entered the second period with a 6-1 start, forcing an early timeout by American. Bison senior middle blocker Zenai Jethrone posted 2 early kills. Led by the serve of senior outside hitter Salme Hollas, the Eagles stormed back, tying the set at 10 apiece.
Still, the match remained deadlocked. Senior opposite hitter Carly Sciborski posted a trio of kills, giving the Eagles a narrow 15-14 lead. Both teams fought hard, bringing the score to an even 20 before the Eagles exploded for 5 consecutive points to take the second set 25-20. Salme led the Eagles’ final charge with 3 straight kills.
The Eagles kept their momentum, gaining an early advantage in the third set before the Bison won 4 straight points and claimed a 9-7 lead. The Bison took advantage of attacking errors from American, which helped grow their lead.
Later in the set, Hallas’ serve took over and led an Eagles scoring run of 6 straight points. With the Eagles up 20-16, they finished the set on a dominant 6-1 run, bolstered by Marrero.
“I like how we shifted gears to end games, so after 20 points, I felt like we got really focused and determined to finish the match,” head coach Jenny Glenn said. “We needed this to be a short game so we could save some energy in our next couple of days and continue to get better.”
The Eagles play the 7-8 Colgate Raiders next at home on Oct. 9.
This article was edited by Matthias Jaylen, Jack Stashower and Gabrielle McNamee. Copy editing by Avery Grossman and Nicole Kariuki.
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