The AU women's volleyball team struggled in the Marquette Cheese Bowl this weekend, losing 3-1 to the University of Wisconsin and 3-2 to Marquette University on Saturday.
Buried in the hard fought loss to No. 13 ranked Wisconsin was senior outside hitter Rubena Sukaj, who set another AU record, this time for most career kills in AU history.
"I thought we battled pretty well against a really good team in Wisconsin this afternoon," Head Coach Barry Goldberg said on AUEagles.com. "As the match went along we gained confidence and began to hit the ball a little better. The third set was a very hard fought win for us and then we played right with them for the first half of the fourth set. I think in the end though they just played a little harder than we did."
Both teams came out fighting and the first set was tied 15-15. The Eagles scrapped, but Wisconsin scored six straight points en route to a 25-21 victory.
The second set was no better for the Eagles, finding themselves down 11-6 early. AU pulled back to within two points, 13-11, but could not get any closer as Wisconsin quickly moved its lead back up to five points, 17-12. The Badgers continued their strong play down the stretch and earned set victory, 25-14.
AU fought back from an early 7-1 deficit to steal the third set 25-23. But the Badgers proved too much for the Eagles, defeating AU in the fourth and final set, 25-18.
In the second match of the day, double-doubles by Sukaj and freshman outside hitter Rebecca Heath couldn't help the Eagles get over the hump against a feisty Marquette team. AU, who is now 5-6 on the season, lost the match with set scores of 29-27, 26-16, 25-22, 25-18, 16-14.
The Eagles took an early 6-3 lead in the first set but it quickly disappeared as Marquette tied the score at eight each, and then took the lead on the next point, 9-8. The first set was tightly contested all the way to a tiebreak that saw the Golden Eagles win the set 29-27.
The Eagles bounced back from a disappointing first set by dominating the next two. Senior setter Christina Nash and Sukaj proved to be a formidable foe, controlling the pace of play.
But the Eagles let the fourth set slip through their hands, and in the fifth and final set, AU blew an early 5-0 lead to lose by one point in a disappointing finish.
The Eagles will look to rebound during their next match, which will be at Howard University at 7 p.m. Wednesday.
You can reach this writer at sports@theeagleonline.com.
