AU women's volleyball swept their Patriot League openers this weekend, defeating Colgate and Bucknell Universities at home in matched 3-0 shutouts. The wins improve the Eagles' record to 2-0 in the league and 8-6 overall.
More than 1,300 fans packed inside Bender Arena during the annual Bender Blue Out to cheer on the Eagles during their PL opener against Colgate on Friday.
AU stormed out to a commanding lead in the first set, taking the first four points before going on a 10-4 run to go up 14-4 in the set before taking the first set with a score of 25-14. Freshman outside hitter Rebecca Heath led the team with five kills in the opening frame.
Colgate opened the second set by taking an early 3-0 lead but the Eagles soon responded, going on a 5-2 run to take their first lead of the set 5-4. After the teams traded points back and forth to tie the set at 16, AU pulled away, taking nine of the next 12 points to win 25-19.
The third and final set started off slowly as well, with AU only up by two, 12-10, midway through the set. This would be as close as the Raiders got all set, as AU cruised to the 25-14 set victory and the 3-0 match win.
"Tonight was a really fun match for our girls," Head Coach Barry Goldberg told AUeagles.com. "We had a great crowd that was into the match the entire time and our team responded and played well. Colgate is a good conference team and this was a great way to start off the conference schedule."
In their second match of the weekend, against Bucknell on Saturday afternoon, the Eagles continued their success from the previous day.
The first set of the match was as close as the Bison got throughout the entire match. AU once again jumped out to the early 4-0 advantage, but the Bison quickly tied the set at five before taking a brief lead, 13-10.
Consecutive kills by junior middle blocker Claire Recht retied the game at 13. After back-and-forth play, the Eagles eventually pulled away to win 25-21.
The Bison took the lead again midway through the second set, going up 13-12 but the Eagles rolled off a 12-3 run to take the set 25-15.
AU closed out the match by taking the third set easily, winning 25-9, while holding Bucknell to just four kills and a -.150 hitting percentage.
The Eagles finished the match with a season-high .464 hitting percentage, with senior outside hitter Rubena Sukaj collecting 12 kills on 17 attempts.
The Eagles will attempt to continue their three-match winning-streak when they face Lafayette College at 7 p.m. Friday.
You can reach this staff writer at jhall@theeagleonline.com.
