The American University volleyball team (20-7, 10-5) lost two matches on the weekend of Nov. 9, dropping a 3-1 match to the Loyola Maryland Greyhounds (10-14, 8-7), and a 3-2 match to the Navy Midshipmen (6-18, 6-9) on Nov. 10.
Loyola came into the match fighting for a spot in the Patriot League tournament, with a loss putting them on the back foot in their last game against the Bucknell Bison. They lost their previous game on Nov. 7, dropping it in four sets to Navy in Annapolis. American looked to right the ship in their match against Loyola, after being swept for the first time this season at Bucknell on Nov. 2.
The Eagles brought the normal fire to the beginning of the first set against Loyola, going up to an 8-3 lead without much retaliation from the Greyhounds. Loyola went on a 9-1 run in retaliation after, going up 12-9 and forced an Eagles timeout. Even after that timeout, a 5-3 run followed, and Loyola cruised to an easy first set victory as Bender Arena fell quiet.
American’s second set was a mild return to form, the Eagles trading runs and points with Loyola, but always finding a way to win the points that mattered. Junior outside hitter Adelina Berisha tied the match up at one set apiece after 2 kills ended the second set.
The Eagles dropped the third set in much of the same way that they won the second, trading points and runs back and forth. The third set went to extra points after a late surge from American on the back of two kills from freshman outside hitter Zedo Yilmaz. Even after that surge, it was not enough to win the set and give the Eagles the advantage. They dropped the set 27-25.
The Greyhounds locked down in the fourth and final set of this match, getting out to a 5-point lead and holding it at two separate points in the set. The Eagles ran out of gas, unable to generate much offense in the fourth set and dropping it at the end by a score of 25-22.
“Loyola played like this was a championship, playoff game. We didn’t. We were not able to match their ferocity, and that’s what won them the game tonight,” head coach Ahen Kim said.
American was back in action the next night against Navy, this time without senior middle blocker Lilou Stegeman. Kim noted after the game that Stegeman went down with an undisclosed injury less than an hour before the match started.
With that blow to the team’s lineup, freshman middle blocker Sophia Nagy started in Stegeman’s place, going on to notch 5 kills on 17 attempts in five sets against the Midshipmen.
Navy was eliminated from the Patriot League tournament with the combined results around the conference, coming into the match ready to play spoiler for American’s seeding in the postseason tournament.
The Eagles started the first set of the match slowly, dropping to a 4-point deficit early on to Navy, and were not able to find a lead in the entire first set, going down to a 6-point deficit at one point. Navy sealed the set with a score of 25-20, marking the second consecutive home game where the Eagles dropped the first set.
The second set saw more of the same for American, going down by a large margin before fighting back. The Eagles held the lead at multiple points in the set, but even a surge to take the lead was not enough to hold off Navy’s offense. American dropped the second set 25-19 and needed a miracle to stay in the match in the third set.
In a sudden death set, American came out with a change to the rotation, starting freshman setter Deniz Dakak at the position over senior Esma Sipahi. This change, mixed with a necessity to stay in the match, saw the Eagles do significantly better in the third set, swinging hard and finding the perfect placement for attacks. Sixteen of American’s 25 points in this set came off of kills, with sophomore outside hitter Holly Hopkins putting up a team-leading 6 in the set.
American won the set 25-22 to send the match to prolong the match.
The fourth set flipped the script on the “normal” for this match, seeing the Eagles take a big lead early and the Midshipmen work their way back to tie and take the lead later on. Navy found themselves on match point in this set on four separate occasions, but American fought their way out of a match-ending situation each time. The Eagles used a flurry of offense to win the set in extra points, 27-25, and send this match to five sets.
Three ties and three lead changes in the first 7-points of the fifth set told the story of the whole match; Navy goes up early, American fights back, and the score ends up tied. After Navy took a 4-3 lead, American didn’t even see a tie until both teams had 11 points each. After that point, the Midshipmen saw the win in their grasp, and went on a 4-1 run to win the set 15-12 and the match 3-2.
“We have to learn how to be comfortable in the pressure cooker,” Kim said after the Navy match. “We can’t play the way we have been, we have to play up to that pressure.”
Berisha led the team in kills for the weekend with 42, followed by Yilmaz with 26. Sipahi notched 64 assists on the weekend, followed by Dakak’s 38. Freshman libero Bella Marrero put up 36 digs for the team in the two-game span.
After dropping their Senior Day match to Lehigh, the Eagles play the Mountain Hawks again at Bender Arena in a Patriot League Quarterfinal match on Nov. 19.
This article was edited by Penelope Jennings, Delaney Hoke and Abigail Turner. Copy editing done by Luna Jinks, Ariana Kavoossi, Emma Brown, Nicole Kariuki and Sabine Kanter-Huchting.
