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Bucknell Volleyball Suffers Hitting Drought, Falls 3-0 at American
Oct. 2, 2009
WASHINGTON, D.C. – Bucknell volleyball fell in its first Patriot League road test, 3-0 to American University at Bender Arena on Friday night. Ragin Jackson (Cortlandt Manor, N.Y./Hendrick Hudson) led the Bison’s (5-10, 1-2) offense with seven kills, but Bucknell was unable to slow the stronger American (8-8, 2-1) attack. Bucknell was never able to get its teeth into the match, falling behind early to the Eagles. A 3-2 lead was the only time the Bison found themselves in front during the match. The short advantage came on the second consecutive kill by Jackson. After losing their lead, the Bison then tied it at five, but American started chipping away at Bucknell’s progress. Before long, the Eagles were up 14-9. Eleven of the final 17 points went the way of the Eagles, and the Bison found themselves in an early hole after one set. The difference in attack percentage tells the story of the opening set. American hit .448 compared to .000 for Bucknell. That disparity in offense was a cause of frustration for head coach Cindy Opalski. “We had very poor offensive production tonight as a team. Heidi Kamp and Ragin Jackson did some good things, but you can’t survive without offensive production,” said Opalski. “To American’s credit, they played exceptionally well. We just didn’t play up to Bucknell University Volleyball standards.” Although the Eagles again hit .400 in the second set, it proved to be a tighter affair. The Bison spread the wealth and got each of their first six kills from six different players. Jackson, Kyleigh McAhren (Napa, Calif./Justin-Siena), Heidi Kamp (Eugene, Ore./Henry D. Sheldon), Allison Gittings (Dayton, Md./Glenelg), Kaitlin Segal (Pacific Palisades, Calif./Harvard-Westlake) and Kebah Edoho (Odenton, Md./Arundel) all got in on the action and mid-way through the set, Bucknell was still in the mix.
Back-to-back block solos from Jackie Landes (Pacific Palisades, Calif./Wildwood School) and Kamp brought Bucknell to within a single point at 14-13, but the team never got any closer. The Eagles’ Angelina Waterman recorded five of her 10 kills on the night in the second set, many of them coming in the final points. Despite staying within striking distance, the Bison were unable to pull out the set, falling 25-21 for a two-set deficit. The match ended the way it started with a lopsided third-set win for American. With the finish line in sight, the Eagles rushed out to a 10-2 lead following a service ace. Bucknell struggled to put together a rally making a comeback virtually impossible. Landes threw in a kill off an assist by Gittings for 24-16 to save a match point, but it was too little too late. Joining Jackson with team highs were Gittings with 23 assists, Kamp with three blocks and Emily Sawanobori (Warren, N.J./Watchung Hills) with nine digs. American finished with four players in double-digit kills. Magdalena Tekiel led with 11, followed by Claire Recht, Cassandra Ricketts and Waterman with 10 apiece. Bucknell will try to work out the kinks in its game in a hurry as it takes on Navy at 12 p.m. tomorrow in Annapolis, Md. |
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