AU's volleyball team sent a stern message to the rest of the Patriot League last Thursday it's still the PL team to beat, after pounding a hyped-up Navy squad that entered the match with a 10-1 record.
Junior Cuttrina Biddulph and sophomore Liz Maloney combined for 24 of the Eagle's 38 kills en route to a quick 3-0 victory over the Midshipmen, who came into the match with a school-record start.
After losing three of its last four matches, head coach Barry Goldberg said, his team rested a few days to refocus its energies on league play. That turned out to be a good thing for the Eagles, who have yet to lose in 49 consecutive league matches.
"One thing we've been working on in practice is teamwork and getting through points," said Biddulph after the match. "We're learning to be steady and take it one point at a time."
Goldberg said he saw his team take control in Game 1 by attacking Navy's weaknesses up front. Biddulph led the charge in the first game as AU romped to a 30-19 win. Throughout the match, Goldberg said AU's aggressive offense and solid defense simply wore Navy down.
"As time went on, you could see it in their face that we had them," said Goldberg. The Eagles took Game 2 30-26 and Game 3 30-21.
The dominating win was due in large part to the Eagles' hitting .329 to Navy's .165. On defense, the Eagles out-dug Navy 40-29. Seniors Courtney Mulford and Sabrina Vasconcelos led the defensive charge with 11 and 12 digs respectively. Mulford also led the team with 29 assists.
Coming into the match, there were questions as to whether or not the Eagles could continue their unprecedented win streak, especially against Navy's almost invincible Midshipmen. But as usual, Goldberg had his team ready for what is now the most important stretch of the season.
"This was our first conference match, and we went in with guns blazing and ready to go," said Goldberg.
Biddulph said the outcome was an important opening statement. "I think we started off very well," she said. "We showed that we're back and we're not going anywhere"
