Oct 21, 2006

Volleyball Downs Lafayette, 3-0

Oct. 21, 2006

WASHINGTON - Senior captain Elizabeth Maloney (Toronto, Ontario/Richview C.I.) notched a match-high .471 hitting percentage with nine kills and three service aces to lead the American University women's volleyball team to a 3-0 victory over Lafayette Saturday afternoon in Bender Arena. The Eagles, now 17-6 on the year, are 9-0 in the Patriot League and winners of their last 11.

American played strong out of the gates, hitting .545 in the first game on its way to a 30-22 win. The Eagles weathered a late push from the visiting Leopards in the second game for the 30-27 win and was barely challenged in the third game, a 30-16 win. The team hit .364 for the match and are hitting .323 in conference matches in 2006.

Numerous Eagles had solid performances in the match. Rubena Sukaj had 16 kills, 10 digs and three service aces, Ivana Cebakova (Brno, Czech Republic/Ludvika Danka) slammed 11 kills at a .391 hitting percentage with nine digs and Chelsa Brooks (Hilliard, Ohio/Hilliard Darby) registered 10 kills at a .421 clip with two blocks. Freshman Ann Recht (Canby, Ore./La Salle) amassed a match-high four blocks followed closely by setter Christina Nash (Princeton, Fla./Coral Reef) who had three blocks and a match-high 28 assists. Libero Tara Stradling (Woodbine, Md./Glenelg) compiled double-digit digs for the second straight game with 12.

American, the NCAA leader in team aces per game, had seven for the match, just below the season average of 2.57 per game.

AU continues its push to its sixth straight Patriot League regular season title next week on the road against Army and Holy Cross Friday and Saturday.

The Eagles first head across town to face Howard - a team they defeated 3-0 earlier this year - Wednesday night at 7 p.m.