After a pair of Patriot League road victories against Holy Cross and Army Oct. 19 and Oct. 20, the AU volleyball team moved into third place in the conference standings.
The Eagles (15-9, 6-3 PL) defeated the Crusaders (1-23, 1-8 PL) in a five-set thriller after falling behind 2-1. After a midmatch lineup change, AU won the last two sets and hit a team-best .348 in the final game.
“We got a nice contribution from Sarah Katz on the right side,” AU Head Coach Barry Goldberg said. “She came in off the bench and played pretty well. We changed the serving rotation and went more with Kristyna Lindovska, Jessica Warner and Sarah Katz; all of them have floating serves. Jessica Warner was tremendous … she took them out of their offense.”
The Eagles played their second pair of games without junior setter Kylann Scheidt (concussion), but Kelly McCaddin and Teodora Peric had 32 and 18 assists, respectively.
“Kelly and Teodora ended up setting together a really fine job,” Goldberg said. “When you have two setters, it gives some relief to one another. When you have one setter, she is in control of the entire tempo of the match. With two, the setters have to be in control of their little segment of the match.”
Sara Rishell posted a match-high 18 kills, while Morgan Hendrix contributed a .435 hitting percentage and 13 kills.
When the Eagles took on Army (15-7, 7-2 PL), they swept the Black Knights in set scores of 25-23, 25-12 and 25-19. Crum led the AU attack and contributed defensively, tallying a match-high 11 kills and 13 digs.
“It’s not so much the double-double; it’s really just Julie being Julie,” Goldberg said. “When she’s herself and she’s got her groove on we’re good, no doubt about it.”
Rishell had 10 kills and finished the weekend with a team-best 28.
“I thought Sara Rishell also had a good week in putting up some good numbers attacking,” Goldberg said. “She made some good blocks, she stayed patient. I think those are important aspects to us being successful, when Sara and Julie just remain patient and rip away when it’s there and recognize when the opportunities aren’t as good.”
Riding a three-match PL winning streak, the Eagles travel to Navy Oct. 26, hoping to create some separation in the standings. With a win, AU will keep its Patriot League Tournament hopes alive and have a shot at a one or two seed.
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