Nov. 17, 2006

Patriot League Volleyball Championship Page

WASHINGTON - No. 1 American defeated No. 4 Lafayette, 3-0, and No. 3 Bucknell moved pass No. 2 Army, 3-1, in the 2006 Patriot League Volleyball Tournament semifinals on Friday, Nov. 17 at American University's Bender Arena.

American (24-6, 14-0 PL) defeated Lafayette by games scores of 30-21, 30-17, 30-18 in the first semifinal match of the night. Junior Rubena Sukaj, the 2006 Patriot League Player of the Year, led the Eagle attack with 19 kills and four aces, while hitting .428. Junior Chelsa Brooks recorded 13 kills, while junior Tara Stradling came up with 11 digs. The Eagles outhit the Leopards .406 to .071.

Sukaj moved to fifth on the Patriot League's single-season kills list with 517 in 2006.

For Lafayette (18-10, 9-5 PL), senior Veronica Canto-Ponce posted a team-high 11 kills and five digs. With two aces on the night, Canto-Ponce pushed her career-total to 250, ranking her second all-time on the Patriot League's career list. Junior Michaela Donohue registered eight kills and a team-best six digs.

Bucknell (19-11, 10-4 PL) took the first two games of the match and rebounded from a third-game loss to cinch up the win with game scores of 30-28, 30-18, 27-30 and 30-26. The Bison put three student-athletes in double-digit kills and three in double-digit digs. Sophomore Emilie Hardinge led the team with 16 kills, while senior Kristen Sydlowski registered a game-high 27 digs to add to her Patriot League single-season record total (605).

Army (21-7, 11-3 PL) was led by sophomore Jamie Clark's 21 kills and .486 hitting percentage. Classmate Elizabeth Lazzari posted a double-double with 15 kills and 20 digs, while Patriot League Rookie and Co-Setter of the Year, Maureen Bannon, put up a match-high 52 assists.

The Patriot League Championship match between American and Bucknell will take place on Saturday, Nov. 18 at 7 p.m., from American University's Bender Arena. The Eagles have won the last five Patriot League Championship titles, while Bucknell's two championships came in 1998 and 2000. The last time the Bison advanced to the Patriot League Championship tilt was in 2003.

Fans can catch all the action through live streaming of video and audio, free of charge, through the Patriot League's All-Access broadband coverage. Tomorrow's championship match will be available by visiting the Patriot League website, www.patriotleague.com, on either the home page or the volleyball page.