EMAIL THIS PAGE

October 26, 2002 | Stats

Karla Kucerkova had 17 kills and 10 digs against Army.

WEST POINT, N.Y.-- Faced with the possibility of its first game five in Patriot League action, the American University volleyball team recovered from a lost third game to beat Army Saturday night by a 3-1 margin. The individual score of the games were 30-24, 30-16, 28-30, 30-28. With the win, AU became the first team to clinch a spot in the Patriot League Tournament to be held Nov. 22-23 in Bender Arena.

The Eagles improve to 18-6 and 9-0 in the Patriot League and will host Colgate and Bucknell this weekend at Bender Arena. The victory was the 10th in a row for AU. The Black Knights are now 9-15 overall and 3-6 in the Patriot League.

As a team, American hit .342 while Army hit .171. Senior Judit Szekeylhidi and junior Karla Kucerkova led AU with 17 kills
apiece and combined for 27 digs. Also impressive was sophomore setter Courtney Mulford, who had 46 assists and 10 kills of her own. Junior Natalie Hand was strong defensively with 25 digs.

In the key Game 3, the two teams were tied 20-all before the Black Knights began
gain momentum with a 24-22 lead. The Eagle offense faltered control-wise and
played catch-up through the rest of the game.

AU continued to struggle in finding its potent offensive touch, tied 26 and
then 28 before sophomore Erin Allgaier iced the game with the final kill.

For Army, Leah Shubin had 14 kills and Caitlin Machon had 12 kills and 13
digs. Abby Casciato chipped in with 40 assists.