The American University volleyball team (20-8, 10-6) closed out their regular season with a five-set loss to the Lehigh Mountain Hawks (15-12, 8-8) on Nov. 16. The team held a pregame ceremony to celebrate the careers of its three graduating seniors: setter Esma Sipahi, defensive specialist Bridget Javitch and middle blocker Lilou Stegeman.
American entered this game on a long losing streak, dropping three straight matches to the Bucknell Bison, Loyola Maryland Greyhounds and Navy Midshipmen. Lehigh came into the match off a loss as well with a five-set home loss to Binghamton on Nov. 13.
The Eagles started the match off slow, dropping the first 4 points and going down 10-4 early on. Later in the set, American found a 7-2 run that forced both of Lehigh’s timeouts and brought the margin down to a single point. Both teams traded points after that fact, and neither was able to establish a run of more than 2 points. However, a two-point run was all the Mountain Hawks needed to put the set away in extra points, winning 26-24.
Down a set, the Eagles came out swinging in the next, forcing nine ties and matching Lehigh at nearly every offensive swing. American found some fire late after a thunderous kill from Stegeman started a 3-0 run for the Eagles to end the set, tying the match up with a score of 25-22.
The third set saw American hop out to an early lead, going up 9-4 off the back of three more kills from Stegeman and errors from Lehigh. Even with a 5-point deficit, the Mountain Hawks found their way back into the set. They tied the score at 11 and held it there before the Eagles found a run again; getting two straight kills from junior outside hitter Adelina Berisha to go up 4 and force a Lehigh timeout.
After the break, Berisha wasn’t done, notching a run of three straight kills to extend American’s lead and push to the end of the set. American scored the last points necessary with relative ease, taking the third set 25-22 and moving on to the fourth.
This fourth set was as close of a set as possible. No team held more than a 1-point lead from when American took a 12-11 lead near the middle of the set until the Mountain Hawks found a 22-20 lead after a replayed point. This run saw nine ties and six lead changes, as American and Lehigh traded points back and forth. The Eagles were exhausted after that duel, and couldn’t come back for the set win. A Lehigh kill sent the match to its fifth set.
American fought the hardest they could in the fifth set, but a surge of scoring from Lehigh to start the set was too much for the Eagles to overcome. American dropped the fifth set 15-9, and the match 3-2, their fourth straight loss to send them into the Patriot League playoffs on a shaky note.
“We’re sad we couldn’t get the win today, but this will light a fire underneath us for Tuesday,” Stegeman said.
Stegeman was one of three Eagles to post at least 10 kills on the day, the others being sophomore outside hitter Sofia Osterdahl with 14 and Berisha’s team-leading 20. Sipahi led the team with 52 assists and led the team in digs as well with 16.
“My message for them would be to stay unbothered,” Stegeman said. “Don’t let it get to you when you miss a dig or a block, but to just move on to the next point.”
“My heart breaks for them, that they couldn’t get a win on Senior Day,” Eagles head coach Ahen Kim said after the game. “We have them again on Tuesday, so we’ll address what went wrong heading into that match.”
The Eagles play Lehigh once again in a Patriot League quarterfinal match on Nov. 19 in Bender Arena.
This article was edited by Penelope Jennings, Delaney Hoke and Abigail Turner. Copy editing done by Luna Jinks and Ariana Kavoossi.
