Bucknell University
American
Volleyball Rallies to Defeat American on the Road in Five-Setter
10/1/2022 9:27:00 PM | Volleyball
LEWISBURG, Pa. – Trailing 2-0 in sets on the road at American, the Bucknell volleyball team turned things around and won 25-17 in the third, 25-14 in the fourth and 15-6 in the fifth to defeat the Eagles for just the third time in program history and move to 4-2 in Patriot League play. The Bison hit .316 in the fourth set and .400 in the fifth after struggling early on in the match.
Senior Lisa Zoch put together her best match of the season, totaling 14 kills on 29 total attempts with five errors for a .310 hitting percentage. Junior Catherine Jamison also posted 14 kills while adding four block assists and a block solo.
As a team, Bucknell registered eight total blocks as well as nine service aces, three of which came from Amanda Tesserot. Caleigh O'Connell led all players with a career-high 43 assists. American hit .051 for the match.
The Bison stayed with American over the first two frames and held several leads, but runs by the Eagles put Bucknell in a 2-0 hole for a third straight match.
Bucknell was within two of tying late in the first at 20-18, but American ended the set on a 5-1 run. Bucknell hit just .067 in the opening set. The Bison led much of the way in the second, including a 15-12 advantage midway through. Trailing 19-17, the Eagles collected eight of the final nine points to win it 25-20. There were five lead changes and eight tie scores in the second frame.
Bucknell trailed just once in set three after an attack error on the opening point gave American a 1-0 lead. From there, the Bison put together runs of 4-0 to go up 7-2 and 5-0 to go up 17-9. Zoch and Jamison combined for nine kills in the third, and four different Bison registered service aces to keep the match alive with a decisive 25-17 win.
The Bison were even better in the fourth, opening the set on an 8-1 run thanks to six American attack errors. They later grabbed five points in a row to lead 15-4. The Eagles never got closer than eight the rest of the way, and Bucknell won the fourth 25-14 to head to a fifth set for a fourth time this season.
Bucknell jumped out to a 5-0 lead in the fifth and also scored the final seven points in a row to win 15-6. The Bison posted eight kills on 15 total attacks and with just two errors in the final frame, adding two more blocks and a service ace by Jordan Hardy to seal the match.
Hardy finished with 18 digs, and O'Connell provided nine. Also notable were five block assists by Valentina Feigl.
American, which has been a consistently dominant force in the Patriot League over the past two decades, had won 50 of the 52 previous meetings with Bucknell. The Bison also collected a five-set victory over the Eagles during head coach Tyler Hagstrom's first season in 2020-21.
Bucknell next plays at Army on Friday, Oct. 7 at 7 p.m. The Bison then return home to host Navy at Davis Gym on Sunday, Oct. 9.
