Dec. 1, 2006

Lincoln, Neb. - American took Nebraska to four games on Friday night, but the top-seeded Huskers earned the 3-1 (30-16, 30-23, 28-30, 30-16) win in the first round of the NCAA Volleyball Tournament at NU Coliseum. American ended the season 25-7 overall, including a 14-0 mark in the Patriot League.

Senior Elizabeth Maloney and junior Chelsa Brooks recorded 12 and 11 kills, respectively. Maloney hit .346 on the night, while Brooks posted five blocks. Freshman Ivana Cebakova led the Eagles with 16 digs.

This year's match marked just the second time in nine Patriot League NCAA Tournament appearances that its team won a game. Both times it was American doing so, winning the third game of the evening against Nebraska and also taking a game from South Carolina in 2002. Before its match against American, Nebraska gave up only nine games all season.

The Patriot League drops to 0-9 in the NCAA Tournament. American has been the Patriot League's representative the last six years.

Maloney closes out her career ranked seventh all-time in Patriot League history with 205 career aces. With five kills on Friday, sophomore Rubena Sukaj increased her Patriot League leading total to 540, which ranks fifth on the Patriot League's single-season chart.

American earned the Patriot League's automatic qualifier into the national tourney by winning is sixth-straight Patriot League Championship title on Nov. 18. The Eagles defeated Lafayette and Bucknell along the way.