Box Score Oct. 1, 2014 Final Stats
WASHINGTON, D.C. - With a 10-4 record entering tonight's contest, the Eagles of American University may have been the toughest competitor for the University of Maryland Eastern Shore (UMES) so far this season on the volleyball court. They lived up to their toughness, defeating the Hawks in straight sets on Wednesday night at Bender Arena. UMES drops to 8-8 on the season.
Freshman Kirstin Fink (Tucson, Ariz.) led the Hawks in the match with ten kills and an impressive attack percentage of .562. She also delivered two service aces, the most on the team, and eight digs, finishing one behind sophomore Allison Woods (Magnolia, Tex.) who had nine. Senior Ksenia Sukhareva (Moscow, Russia) finished second on the team with eight kills who also tying Fink with eight digs, and junior Ashley Smith (Huntley, Ill.) ended up with four kills, good for third most on the team.
American set the tone from the beginning of the first set. After a Smith kill made it 2-1 UMES, the Eagles rattled off seven straight points before the Hawks called a timeout. UMES never got closer than five points behind as American eventually earned a double-digit lead en route to a 25-14 set win.
UMES did hang tough a little longer in set two, clinging to a 5-4 deficit early on. But once again the Eagles went on a vicious 9-0 run to build a ten point lead. The Hawks would rally to knock down the deficit to seven, but a kill by the Eagles' Megi Dervishi finished them off, giving AU a 25-15 win.
Facing the prospect of having to come back from trailing in a match two sets to none, the Hawks built a 6-5 lead in the hopes of turning the momentum. However, one final uncontested run by the Eagles, this one of the 7-0 variety, brought down any hopes of a UMES comeback. Despite the Hawks rallying with two aces by Fink, the Eagles would take the third and final set, 25-16.
A long stretch of conference matches await the Hawks over the next few weeks, beginning with a road match against the Bison of Howard University on Friday night. Match time is set for 7:00 p.m. at Burr Gymnasium.
