The AU volleyball team kept their winning streak alive on Oct. 17 against Navy in Bender Arena, defeating the Midshipmen 3-0 to open up All-American weekend.
The Eagles (17-4, 7-0 PL) entered the night on a 12-match win streak, most recently defeating Lehigh and Colgate last weekend in Bender Arena. While Navy (7-8, 4-2 PL) hit solidly throughout the match, they were unable to slow down the Eagles, who swept them in three matches.
AU chalked the first point of the match against the Midshipmen on senior libero Megan Rosburg’s ace, but Navy captured the next two points in the set.
The set remained even until AU went up 10-9 on a kill from junior outside hitter Sarah Katz. The Eagles capitalized on their momentum swing, and launched a 7-0 run. AU went on to lead by eight before the Midshipmen started closing the gap on the Eagles 20-12 advantage.
Navy eventually tightened the gap to three, but they still trailed 22-19 in the first set. AU regained their composure and finished off the set on a kill from senior outside hitter Allison Cappellino.
The Eagles relied heavily on their serving throughout the first set, and earned four points on aces.
“If it wasn’t for the serving in game one, we may not have beaten them in that game because they hit better than we did,” head coach Barry Goldberg said.
The second set mirrored the first with the Eagles landing the first point, only to be matched by the Midshipmen a point later. After being tied with Navy at 7-7, AU built up a lead to separate themselves in the second set.
AU didn’t have any prolonged streaks in the set but rather tacked on points in three or four point intervals. The Eagles finished the Midshipmen off on another kill from Katz to end the set with a score of 25-16.
Navy came out of the intermission with new energy and took the first two points of the third set.
The Eagles never trailed the Midshipmen by more than two again in the match. AU went on an eight point run to lead 9-3, and they never let Navy close the gap to less than four. AU’s senior middle blocker Kelly McCaddin sent off the Midshipmen with a kill to close out the third set and match.
AU’s victory secures their undefeated Patriot League record at the end of the first round of league games. Despite his team’s success, Goldberg still sees room for improvement.
“We were lackluster to start the match here—played real loose, not firm and patient. We tried to hurry balls, we hit some balls out of bounds. [But] we started to hit the ball better as time went on,” Goldberg said.
“We’re becoming one of the better serving teams in the country. Serving has been a big part of our success to this point, but we’ve got to keep improving,” he said.
The Eagles host Loyola Maryland at home on Oct. 22. They previously swept the Greyhounds during the first meeting on October 7.
