The AU Volleyball team picked up its tenth straight victory this past Saturday with a win over conference opponent The College of the Holy Cross in straight sets.
AU (16-2) won the sets 25-13, 25-15, 25-16.
The Eagles remain undefeated in Bender Arena, winning seven straight matches each in three straight sets.
Despite heading into the match with a 19-0 record versus Holy Cross, senior Angelina Waterman said her team did not write off the match as an easy win.
“Holy Cross is better than they have been in past years, so we didn’t know what to expect from them,” Waterman said. “We came into the game not thinking that we were going to win but thinking that this is just one step further for us getting to the Patriot League [Championship].”
Stand out performances by Waterman and fellow senior Magdalena Tekiel led the Eagles to their sixteenth victory of the season. Waterman had 12 kills in 26 attempts, while Tekiel picked up another double-double with 17 kills and 11 digs. Tekiel finished the match with a .538 attack percentage. Krysta Cicala set up her team for kills with 20 assists in the match.
AU pulled ahead early in the first set, picking up points from both kills and Crusaders errors. Four AU players — Waterman, Tekiel, senior Cassandra Ricketts and sophomore Bianca Richardson — each registered four kills in the set. The Crusaders quickly surrendered the set to AU, 25-13.
“There is something about getting to create power and momentum from a kill that gets your team ready to get going and putting that ball on the ground,” Waterman said.
The second set proved to be more balanced, with the teams trading points until the score reached 7-5 in favor of AU. At that point, the Eagles went on a 5-0 run. Once again the Eagles held a healthy lead over the Crusaders, averaging a cushion of eight points throughout the set. AU picked up the set 25-15 off a Crusaders error.
With the score even at 5-5 in the third set, the Eagles went on a 3-0 run jump started by a kill from senior Katerina Cinkova. Long volleys and blocks deflected out characterized much of the set as the Crusaders trailed AU by three, 11-8. Back-to-back AU errors allowed Holy Cross to shrink its deficit to one, providing a set score of 16-15.
Freshman Virginia Fitch said that in the huddle after each AU error her teammates encouraged one another saying, “shake it off” and “we have the next one.”
Up 19-16, the Eagles won six straight points to win the match 25-16.
“We cannot let teams come in and play sloppy, and find holes in our defense,” Goldberg said. “We did not let [Holy Cross] do that today, and I think that made a big difference in the game.”
The Eagles return to Bender Arena on Oct. 7 for a match against the United States Naval Academy, a Patriot League opponent. AU current sits at the top in Patriot League rankings while Navy rests at the bottom with a conference record of 0-4.
kgreubel@theeagleonline.com
