The AU volleyball team defeated Siena College on Saturday night, as the Eagles smoked the Saints in straight sets by scores of 25-14, 25-8 and 25-17.
Sophomore Bianca Richardson had a great all-around game for the Eagles, as she registered nine kills to go along with six service aces and six block assists. Magdalena Tekiel added eight kills for AU, while Krysta Cicala ignited the offense with 33 assists and led the defense with seven digs. In the loss, freshman Taylor Akana had a team-high eight kills for the Saints.
The Eagles scored seven of the first nine points in the opening set, thanks in part to two kills by Cassandra Ricketts. Siena fought back early, and an error by Angelina Waterman made the score 9-6 AU. But then the Eagles scored seven straight points to take a 16-6 lead and gain total control of the first set. Cicala registered two of her four service aces during the key spurt and Ricketts added another kill, as AU would cruise to a 25-14 victory.
Ricketts, Richardson and Waterman would each record kills in the early portion of the second set as AU raced out to a 9-1 advantage. The lead ballooned to 16-3 in favor of the Eagles after outside hitter Katerina Cinkova notched a kill. With the score at 21-6, Richardson came through with two consecutive kills before freshman Juliana Crum ended the set with a kill of her own. The Eagles ended up defeating the Saints 25-8 in a dominating second set performance that saw no ties or lead changes.
The third set was more competitive than the first two, as the teams were tied at eight in the opening moments. However, AU would score the next four points as an attack error by Akana put the Eagles in front 12-8. Tekiel and Fitch notched kills for The Eagles during that run. Later in the set, the score was 18-14 in favor of AU when two more Siena errors gave the Eagles a comfortable six-point advantage. With the score at 23-17, Crum followed a kill with a service ace to give AU a three set victory.
With the win, the Eagles improved to 7-2 on the season and have now won five of their past six contests. Meanwhile, the loss dropped Siena to 1-6.
AU will continue their road trip and take on the Howard University Bison (1-7) on Wednesday, Sept. 15. The Eagles come into the match as favorites as Howard is coming off back-to-back losses against UMBC and Towson. AU returns to Bender Arena to play the Towson Tigers (10-3) who have lost three straight on Friday, Sept. 17.
ttomea@theeagleonline.com
