Women’s Volleyball Head Coach Barry Goldberg’s 500th win would have to wait until Saturday’s win over NJIT, as the Yale Bulldogs beat the Lady Eagles, 3-1 Friday.
Things were looking good for AU early in the match as they were able to take the first set of the evening. It was not easy though, as the first game went back and forth showing that Yale was a formidable opponent. Yale would tie American at 18, but American was able to capitalize on four straight errors by the Bulldogs, giving them the win 25-21.
AU unraveled in game two. Like the first set, the two teams were neck and neck. At one point in the match, the teams were tied at 19, but AU broke down and allowed Yale to string together six straight points and win 25-19.
Coach Goldberg marked the end of the second set and the middle of game three, where momentum really shifted in Yale’s favor. AU’s sophomore Libero Rebecca Heath felt that losing game two had some affect on the team.
“I think if we could have dealt with it better we could have come back in the third set,” Heath said after the game. “We let that frustration get us down [and] I think we started to fall apart.”
In the third and fourth set, American lost 25-16 and 25-15 respectively. Though AU took an early 2-0 lead in both sets, they quickly gave it away. “I thought they continued to press us pretty well; they’re experienced outside hitters,” Goldberg said after the match. “[Yale was] composed. As time went on, we kind of wore down. They wore us down I think.”
One of the other problems in the loss was AU’s propensity for errors, something the team has been working on reducing all season.
“I just think we have to keep our errors under control and not get frantic,” Heath said. “When the other team’s putting pressure on us we have to keep the passing steady, which wasn’t always so great tonight.”
Goldberg does not think any major adjustments are needed following this match. That said, Goldberg is looking for his attackers to step up. He said that if they could have stepped up against Yale they could have put the game away early.
You can reach this staff writer at slindauer@theeagleonline.com.
