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American Volleyball Advances to PL Final With 3-0 Win Over Army; Will Face Lehigh
Kucerkova on fire with 23 kills while hitting .750 for AU

Junior Karla Kucerkova powered AU to the PL Finals.

November 22, 2002 | Stats

WASHINGTON — The American University volleyball team blasted Army 3-0 in a Patriot League Championship semifinal match Friday night at Bender Arena behind the monstrous effort of junior Karla Kucerkova, who hit .750 with a match-high 23 kills. Scores of the individual games were 30-24, 30-21 and 30-26.

The Eagles (25-6, 14-0 Patriot League) improve their winning streak to 17 matches and will face the No. 2 seed Lehigh on Saturday at 4 p.m. in Bender Arena in front of a live Comcast SportsNet crowd. AU, which has never lost a Patriot League match in its two-year league history, now has a league record of 31-0. Lehigh defeated No. 3 Bucknell 3-0 in the early semifinal. Scores of that match were 30-24, 30-21, and 30-26.

It was a rematch of last year's final in which the Black Knights took the only Patriot League game from American in all of 2001. The Eagles had defeated Bucknell in the semifinals.

Kucerkova, the 2001 and 2002 Patriot League Player of theYear, erupted often and early for American, which tallied 51 kills to Army's 26. Hitting .353 as a team, the Eagles clearly out-hit a struggling Black Knight offense that finished with a .077 percentage. Kucerkova added seven digs and a pair of service aces on the night.

Sophomore Natacha Cornaz was a steadying force for American with 11 kills on a .500 hitting percentage.Sophomore Courtney Mulford, a Second-Team All-Patriot League selection, had a match-high 34 assists and four kills. Junior Natalie Hand registered a match-high 11 digs.

The Black Knights, who entered the tournament with an 8-6 league record, finish their season with a 15-6 overall record.

The Comcast SportsNet broadcast will be have commentary provided by U.S. Olympic gold medalist Chris Marlowe and USA Today columnist Christine Brennan.