Nov. 21, 2008
Washington, D.C.--In a rematch of last year's title match, top-seeded American and third-seeded Colgate will meet for the 2008 Patriot League Volleyball Championship. Top-seeded American swept Bucknell, 3-0. Colgate avenged a pair of regular season losses to Army with a 3-0 win over the Black Knights. American and Colgate will meet at 8 p.m. Saturday in Bender Arena in Washington, D.C. for the Patriot League Championship.
No. 1 American 3, No. 4 Bucknell 0
American scored a semifinal victory over Bucknell in the first semifinal, dispatching the Bison in three sets. The Eagles never trailed en route to a 25-8, 25-14, 25-17 win.
After a kill by Bucknell freshman Kyleigh McAhren tied the first set at 4-4, American scored 10 of the next 11 points to seize momentum. The Eagles scored 21 of the final 25 points in the opening frame to capture of 1-0 advantage after one set.
The Eagles, who hit .500 in the first set, outdid themselves in the following set. American recorded a blistering .542 hitting percentage to take the second set, 25-14. The teams exchanged the first 12 points of the second set, making it 6-6. The Eagles then scored six of the next seven points to momentarily gather momentum. Bucknell stayed with the Eagles, pulling within a 14-10 margin after a kill by Bucknell sophomore Heidi Kamp. The Eagles responded with an 11-2 run to close out the second set.
American again jumped out early in the third set, building an early 5-1 advantage. The Bison kept themselves within striking distance, trimming the American lead to 10-7. Three times after cutting into the American lead, however, the Bison followed with service errors, allowing the Eagles to pull away. American won the final set, 25-17, hitting .370, while the Bison hit .061.
For the match, the Eagles hit .465, while Bucknell hit .012, while. Three-time Patriot League Player of the Year Rubena Sukaj had a match-high 11 kills, while Patriot League Rookie of the Year Rebecca Heat added 10 kills. The league's setter of the year, Christina Nash, dished out a match-high 27 assists. The Eagles had 11 blocks, including six by Claire Recht and five by Nash.
Bucknell was led by the play of seniors Liz Hazuka and Shannon Pitsch. Hazuka had a team-high seven kills, hitting .211, and adding four digs. Pitsch had team-highs with 17 assists and seven digs. Kamp had six kills, while classmate Kaitlin Segal added four kills and seven digs.
American will advance to its eighth consecutive Patriot League Championship match. The Eagles (23-8) will be in pursuit of their eighth straight Patriot League title. Bucknell's season comes to a close after a 13-18 season.
No. 3 Colgate 3, No. 2 Army 0
Colgate, which had lost to Army twice in the regular season, swept the Black Knights to move into the Patriot League Championship match. The Raiders will play in the title match for the second straight season after beating Army in the Patriot League semifinals for the second consecutive season. Colgate is now 6-1 in Patriot League semifinal matches.
Colgate built leads as large as 15 in the opening set, and cruised to a 25-13 win. The Raiders pounded out 16 first-set kills compared to just nine by the Black Knights. Colgate never trailed in the opening set.
The Raiders maintained the momentum in the second set, hanging on for a 25-20 win. Colgate built a 23-16 advantage, but Army claimed four straight points to threaten late in the game. Colgate, which out-hit Army .326 to .093 in the second set, rallied to score the set's final two points and build a decisive 2-0 lead.
Army came out of the locker room firing on all cylinders. The Black Knights built leads as large as five points, but Colgate took the lead at 16-15 and never relinquished it. The Raiders took the final set, 25-20, becoming just the third team to sweep Army this season.
Senior Katrina Zawojski added 16 kills, 10 digs and hit .424, while sophomores Logan Keala and Casey Ritt registered eight and nine kills apiece. Junior Meghan Fanta handed out 36 assists.
Anchoring the Colgate defensive effort was junior libero Jackie Adlam (Mill Valley, Calif.) with 14 digs, while sophomore Devon Applegate (Davidson, N.C.) and Keala each picked up nine.
The Raiders as a team hit .312 for the match, finishing with 47 kills. Colgate also posted 51 digs and 12 total team blocks.
Army was led on offense by Elizabeth Lazzari with 10 kills. Jamie Clark and Rachael Breinling added seven kills apiece. Maureen Bannon hit a team high .625 and finished with 25 assists and also had 10 digs.
Colgate will play in its 11th Patriot League Championship match on Saturday. The Raiders have won the title four times, but will be searching for their first since 1999. Army closes its season with a 26-4 record.
