Bucknell University Athletics
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Bucknell Volleyball's Season Comes to an End with Loss to American
11/21/2008 7:00:00 AM | Volleyball
Nov. 21, 2008
WASHINGTON, D.C. - The Bucknell volleyball team saw its season come to a close on Friday, Nov. 21, as it lost, 3-0, to the American Eagles in the semifinals of the Patriot League Tournament, in Washington, D.C. The Bison (13-18) entered the tournament as the No. 4 seed, while the Eagles (23-8) earned the No. 1 seed. American advances to Saturday's championship game against the winner of tonight's contest between No. 2 Army (26-3) and No. 3 Colgate (14-13).
It was a tough start to the match for the Bison, as American hit .500 in the first set, compared to just -.015 for the Bison. The Eagles led 5-2, before Bucknell was able to rattle off three straight points to cut the lead to 5-4. American then went on a 6-1 run, prompting Bucknell head coach Cindy Opalski to call a timeout. Unfortunately, the break in the action could not stop the Eagles, who ran off nine of the next 10 points, giving them a 20-6 lead and another Bison timeout. American would take the first set, 25-8.
Bucknell came out much more energized in the second set, and were tied with the Eagles at 6-6, before American was able to start inching away. Bucknell took a timeout, trailing 16-10, but would not get any closer than six the rest of the way, and the Eagles closed out the set, winning 25-14. American hit .542 in the second set, while the Bison improved to .136.
In the third and final set, Bucknell again started out slow, falling behind 5-1. Bucknell would get as close as three, down 10-7, but American would keep the Orange and Blue at arm's length. The Bison hurt themselves with three critical service errors, after cutting the American lead to 14-10, 17-12 and 21-15. American would win the final set, 25-17, hitting .370, while the Bison hit .061.
For the match, Bucknell hit .012, while the Eagles hit a robust .465. Three-time Patriot League Player of the Year Rubena Sukaj had a game-high with 11 kills, while Patriot League Rookie of the Year Rebecca Heat had 10. The league's setter of the year, Christina Nash, had a game-high 27 assists, and the Eagles had 11 blocks, including six by Claire Recht and five by Nash.
Bucknell was led by the play of seniors Liz Hazuka (Colorado Springs, Colo./Cheyenne Mountain) and Shannon Pitsch (Oak Brook, Ill./Fenwick). Hazuka had a team-high seven kills, hitting .211, and adding four digs. Pitsch had team-highs with 17 assists and seven digs, earning her a selection to the Patriot League All-Tournament Team. Bison sophomore Heidi Kamp (Springfield, Ore./Henry D. Sheldon) had six kills, while classmate Kaitlin Segal (Pacific Palisades, Calif./Harvard-Westlake) had four kills and seven digs.
Pitsch closes out her career with 3,597 career assists and 136 service aces, ranking first and third, respectively, in Bucknell history. The Bucknell senior class of Hazuka, Pitsch and Sheena Czipri (Aurora, Ill./West Aurora) compiled a 62-61 record over the last four years, including three Patriot League Tournament appearances.
