 |
| American's Carle Fiske (#21) scored 16 points |
From our friends at AU Athletics...
Volleyball lmproves to 5-0 with a Four-Set Win Over Visiting DelawareLed by graduate student Carlie Fikse and senior Zeynep Uzen, the American University volleyball team won its fifth straight match to open the 2022 season, defeating Delaware in four sets by scores of 25-21, 22-25, 25-19 and 25-22. The Eagles, who will play their next four matches away from home, stand at 5-0 overall while the Blue Hens drop to 1-3.
NOTABLE:
* Fikse hit .440 with 12 kills and only a single error while also leading the Eagles with five blocks.
* The sets went primarily to Uzen over the course of the match and she struggled with errors at times, but still posted a match-high 17 kills while also recording nine digs.
 |
| Senior Zeynep Uzen (#1) led all players with 17 kills |
* Sophomore Esma Sipahi had a strong match with 16 assists and seven digs to go with six kills and a hitting percentage of .357.
 |
| Soph Esma Sipahi (#17) led AU with 16 assists |
* Senior Rachael Bennett led AU with 12 digs, and junior Maya Mrus posted six kills along with a match-best three service aces.
 |
| Senior Rachel Bennett (#3) led American with 12 digs |
HOW IT HAPPENED:
* The Eagles let an early lead get away in the first set and the teams were tied for the 11th time at 18-18 before AU pulled away again.
 |
| Senior Inbal Peleg (#12) added 12 assists |
* Uzen was on fire in the closing stretch with four kills in the Eagles' final six points, the last of which won the set at 25-21.
 |
| Sophomore Bridget Javitch (#6) |
* The second set was neck-and-neck until the final tie at 15-15 when Delaware began to pull away. AU fought off two set points with kills from Fikse and Uzen before the Blue Hens' Lani Mason put it away for a 25-22 Delaware win.
 |
| 5 kills for freshman Adelina Berisha (#10) |
* American never trailed in the third set, jumping out to an 11-3 lead early on. The Blue Hens fought back to make it a three-point deficit at 18-15 and then a two-point deficit at 21-19, but then the Eagles came alive.
 |
| Junior Allie Burke (#14) is all smiles |
* An Uzen kill started a 4-0 closing rally that included an ace for Mrus and back-to-back kills for Fikse.
 |
| Maya Mrus (#8) led all players with 3 service aces |
* The Eagles once again led for most of the fourth set, but had a scare in the end after being up 24-18. Delaware scored four straight to make it interesting, but an error on the Blue Hens after the run was all AU needed to win the match.
 |
| Win #802 for Head Coach Barry Goldberg |
Click here for yesterday's box score.
NEXT UP:
American will travel to Coppin State for a mid-week match at 6 p.m. on Tuesday, Sept. 6, before heading to Pitt for three matches next weekend against the host Panthers, Towson and Bowling Green.
KEEP UP WITH US:
For the latest on American University Volleyball, stay tuned to AUEagles.com and follow the team on Twitter (@AU_Volleyball), Facebook (/AU.Volleyball) and Instagram (@au_volleyball).