In an encouraging loss that left both sides talking, the AU women's volleyball team was defeated by No. 1 Nebraska on Friday in the first round of the NCAA Tournament, but not before pulling out a team win of their own.
The Eagles, who would eventually fall 3-1 to the Cornhuskers, became the first team to win a game against Nebraska in the first round of the tournament since 1992 and the second team this season to force a fourth game on the top-ranked team at home.
American came into the matchup off a 19-game winning streak and a Patriot League Championship win, but failed to show the same confidence they had emanated during the regular season. Though the Eagles found their bearings to bring themselves within six with a score of 20-14, they ultimately faltered after a Nebraska timeout ignited a 10-2 run that sealed a 30-16 Cornhusker win.
The Eagles looked more threatening in the second game, forcing 10 errors and a .122 hitting percentage from the No. 2 hitting team in the country.
Leading 15-14 going into the first media timeout, AU became stifled by a reenergized attack from Nebraska, who pulled away to lead as much as 26-20.
The Eagles creeped back with a block by freshman Ann Recht and kill by sophomore Christina Nash, but were eventually silenced with a final score of 30-23.
Raising the intensity in the third match, American shocked Nebraska, winning 30-28 and forcing a fourth game. After the tables turned twice in the evenly-played matchup, sophomore Rubena Sukaj served an ace to bring the Eagles to a 25-23 lead. Leading by the smallest of margins, AU put the match away when Nash setup a kill for Sukaj that gave AU a stunning 30-28 win over the NCAA's number-one team.
Strong serves from junior Logan Striebel helped the Eagles close an early gap and come up ahead 10-8 in the fourth match. Not able to capitalize, American fell behind after that, falling 30-16 to Nebraska and ending their tournament hopes.
"There are certainly mixed emotions after the match," head coach Barry Goldberg said in an interview with aueagles.com. "You don't want to be completely overjoyed that we hung in there, but we are proud to be able to compete against one of the best teams in the country in such an amazing atmosphere. We appreciated the fact that the Nebraska fans were very gracious after the match talking about how well we played."
In fitting fashion, AU senior captain Elizabeth Maloney went out on top, posting a team-high 12 kills and a .346 percentage. Junior All-Patriot League First Team middle blocker Chelsa Brooks added 11 kills and five blocks, helping the team total of 42 blocks and a .050 hitting percentage.
"All the members of the team added so much to our success this year," Goldberg said. "We had such a great experience this year with our mix of older and younger players. We found a way to be successful in a tough environment tonight."
American posted its second consecutive 25-win season and sixth straight appearance in the NCAA Tournament to cap a year in which they went 25-7 overall.
