Women's Volleyball won the Wildcat Classic at Villanova University in Philadelphia, Pa. over the weekend. The Eagles defeated Akron University, Rider University and Villanova to claim first place. The Eagles never lost a game throughout the entire tournament.
The Eagles began the tournament with a match Friday against Akron. This was the first meeting between the two school and AU knock off the Zips in three games (15-11,15-7, 16-14). The Eagles were led by senior Ajola Berisha's 16 kills and senior Sylvia Panak's 42 assists. Juniors Maria Zhuravleva and Judit Szekclyhidi contributed to the Eagle's attack with 15 and 10 kills apiece.
In the second match against Rider (15-2, 15-4, 15-6), AU kept the Broncos to a .061 hitting percentage, while the Eagles connected on 41 percent of their kill attempts. The Eagles were led by Zhuravleva and junior Ashley Vincino, both of whom had 11 kills for the match. The Eagles also added 10 points through service aces during the match.
The final match against Villanova, (15-7, 15-7, 15-1) saw the Eagles baffle the hometown Wildcats who could only muster a pathetic .044 kill percentage. The Wildcats committed 24 hitting errors, which significantly helped AU who only committed half as many errors.
Panak, who took on her former school Long Beach State University yesterday, finished the tournament with 98 assists and 38 digs. Zhuravleva and Berisha finished the tournament with 32 kills each.
While the volleyball team dominated in Philadelphia, the field hockey team was shutout by William & Mary in their season opener. The Monarchs (3-0, 1-0) scored once in the first half and twice in the second half to finish the Eagles. They also out shot AU 17-5 and held the Eagles to 2 shots in the first 35 minutes of play.
AU goalkeeper Laura Miller made 10 saves in the match.
The Eagles will take a little road trip up north next week to play the University of Michigan and Michigan State University.
The Eagles are playing this reason with the help of a new assistant coach, Kate Brown was hired on Aug. 9. She is an Ohio State University alumni and played for the Buckeyes. She is a three time All Big-10 All-Academic selection.
