The AU volleyball team maintained its lead atop the Patriot League with home victories over the Holy Cross Crusaders Nov. 4 and the Army Black Knights Nov. 5.
Eagles easily knock off Crusaders
The Eagles (19-10, 11-1 PL) rolled past the Crusaders (8-21, 4-8 PL) in straight sets, winning by scores of 25-16, 25-17 and 25-6.
The two teams were tied at five early in the opening set before AU took control. The Eagles then won 12 of the next 18 points to lead 17-11, forcing Holy Cross to take a timeout. With AU leading 21-16 later in the game, the Eagles scored four straight points, capped by a Rebecca Heath kill, for the set clincher.
The second set saw three lead changes early on, but the Eagles pulled away again as the game progressed. AU led by as much as 10 points, before another Heath kill gave the Eagles the comfortable 25-17 victory.
AU dominated the third set, as the Eagles hit a game-high .812 while holding Holy Cross to a -.217 hitting percentage.
Sara Rishell led the Eagles with 13 kills, while Monika Smidova recorded a team-high 20 assists. Defensively, Rishell added three solo blocks while Morgan Hendrix had two blocks to go along with five block assists.
“We have a lot of good hitters that can put the ball away,” Rishell said. “We spread the offense around.”
AU defeats second-place Black Knights
With first place in the conference on the line, the Eagles closed out the weekend by defeating Army 25-18, 25-20, 23-25 and 25-18.
The first and second sets were very similar, as the teams exchanged scores early on before the Eagles extended their leads late to gain a 2-0 advantage.
After back-and-forth action to begin the third set, the Eagles took a 12-10 lead and looked to close out Army (20-7, 10-2 PL) in straight sets. The teams then battled down the stretch and, with the game tied at 23, an Army kill followed by Heath’s attack error gave the Black Knights the set.
The Eagles regained control of the match in the fourth set by jumping out to a 12-4 lead. Army cut the AU advantage to 16-13, before the Eagles outscored the Black Knights 9-5 down the stretch for the victory.
“We started the game off strong,” AU Head Coach Barry Goldberg said. “As they were inching back, we needed to stay strong and we were physical by the net.”
Juliana Crum posted double figures in kills (13) and digs (15), while Rishell had a game-high 15 kills. Alexandra Hammer paced the offense with 23 assists.
The Eagles will finish the regular season next weekend when the team hosts Lehigh University Nov. 11 and Lafayette College Nov. 12.
AU can earn the No. 1 seed in the Patriot League Tournament with a win in one of their final two games.
