The American University volleyball team (12-2, 2-0) continued a successful season throughout the second half of September. Through the stretch, they posted a win against the Howard University Bison to close their non-conference home slate, won two of three in a tournament weekend at Campbell and took their first two Patriot League contests without dropping a set at Loyola Maryland and Navy.
The Eagles entered this stretch on a down note, taking their first loss of the season in the Bender Blue Out on Sept. 6 against Maryland in five sets. The team started this stretch with a 7-1 record, and were led by mighty efforts from junior outside hitter Adelina Berisha and freshman outside hitter Zedo Yilmaz, both ranking highly in the Patriot League in kills.
In their final home game of non-conference play, the Eagles hosted the Howard Bison on Sept. 10 and got off to a hot start, taking the first two sets 25-20, 25-21. The Bison made American fight for every point they got, and this play ended up bringing Howard back into the match, taking the next two sets 25-23 and 26-24. In the pivotal fifth set, Yilmaz boosted the Eagles to a 15-11 win, putting up four kills.
After this thriller of a five-set victory, senior setter Esma Sipahi spoke of the confidence she had for the then-upcoming road gauntlet, saying, “We have to keep being us, and show what we practice. If we do that, we’ll be fine on the road.”
American went on to take two of their next three games in an invitational tournament at Campbell University in Buies Creek, North Carolina; defeating the Campbell Camels in five sets and the North Carolina Central Eagles in four. In between both of those matches, they dropped a five-set game to the Western Carolina Catamounts.
After that tournament, the Eagles took six days off before another road game, this time visiting the Loyola Maryland Greyhounds on Sept. 20 in their Patriot League opener.
The match was over after 3 sets, American took all three with authority, winning 25-17, 25-15, 25-21. Berisha led the team in kills for the match with 17, and freshman Bella Marrero started the game at libero. Marrero’s defensive effort combined with the rest of the team’s held Loyola star outside hitter, graduate student Lauren Link, to 12 kills.
Head coach Ahen Kim praised the team after the match.
“It’s a brand new season going into conference play, and the fact that we were able to start it off with a win gives us confidence moving forward,” Kim said.
The Eagles were back at it again the next day, this time visiting the Navy Midshipmen. The match ended without American dropping a set once again, but freshman middle blocker Sophia Nagy stole the show in this match, notching seven aces in the Eagles’ win.
“Sophia [Nagy]’s got a different way of serving the ball, it looks even cleaner in practice, but the way she can serve one way where the ball stays flat and keeps going, while in her change-up the ball just drops out of nowhere, it’s a fantastic thing to watch,” Kim said after the match at Navy.
Berisha led the team in kills through these six games with 88, followed by Yilmaz with 78. Sipahi led the team in assists through the span, posting 253, averaging about 42 per game. Senior libero Bridget Javitch led the team in digs through the six games with 91, while Berisha posted a close 84. Freshman middle blocker Elise Sterling posted 21 blocks through the span, while senior middle blocker Lilou Stegeman was close behind with 19.
“We’re happy to get out of Navy and Loyola, two of our biggest competitors these past few years with sweep wins,” Berisha said, ecstatic about the wins over the weekend.
American returns home on Oct. 4 to face the Bucknell Bison.
This article was edited by Penelope Jennings, Delaney Hoke and Abigail Turner. Copy editing done by Luna Jinks and Ella Rousseau.
