The AU women's volleyball team continued to plow through its opponents Friday, when the team beat Lehigh 3-0. It was the Eagles' fifth win in a row, a stretch in which AU has won 15 straight sets.
The Eagles, who are now 4-0 in conference play, dismantled Lehigh University by set scores of 25-8, 25-12, 25-23. AU came out red hot, extending their lead to 11 points in the opening set. That lead was upped to 15, as senior setter Christina Nash set the aggressive pace with one of AU's two aces during the run.
AU's offense hit .526 in the first set, connecting with 12 kills on 19 attempts with just two errors. Junior middle blocker Claire Recht and sophomore setter Cassandra Ricketts were each two for two, and sophomore outside hitter Katerina Cinkova was four for five in the total team effort.
Recht continued AU's dominance in the second set, recording consecutive kills to put the Eagles ahead 2-0. With the score 8-5, the Eagles went on a 7-0 run that saw senior outside hitter Rubena Sukaj connect on three kills and Ricketts had two aces.
The lead swelled to 13, and two points later the Eagles wrapped up the set. Recht was again perfect in the set, converting all four of her attack attempts. Nash dished out 15 assists in the set, and the Eagles had an unprecedented .643 hitting percentage.
Lehigh put up a fight in the third set, as the Eagles trailed by two twice, falling behind 13-11 and 16-14. AU grabbed their first lead of the set going ahead 19-18, but the teams continued to trade points. Freshman outside hitter Rebecca Heath put the match away with her fifth kill of the set.
AU's victory was its 12th straight against Patriot League opponents dating back to last season. Nash, who had a .475 hitting percentage distributed 36 assists, led the Eagles.
Sukaj led all scorers with 12 kills and had seven digs on the defensive side of the net. Recht finished the match with a .800 hitting percentage as she scored eight kills on 10 attempts with zero errors.
AU next play at 7 p.m. Friday at home against the U.S. Naval Academy.
