Volleyball Falls to First-Place American; Will Learn PL First Round Opponent on Saturday

Friday, November 13

Washington, D.C.

6 p.m.

Bucknell University

11-14,7-9Patriot

American

20-5,15-1Patriot

Team	1	2	3	4	Final F
Bucknell	16	25	14	20	1
American	25	20	25	25	3

Photo by: Jon Hertzler

11/13/2026 8:52:00 PM | Volleyball

Box Score

WASHINGTON, D.C. – The Bucknell women's volleyball team fell to American 3-1 (16-25, 25-20, 14-25, 20-25) in the regular season finale at Meltzer Center on Friday night.

Despite the loss to the first-place Eagles, Bucknell has clinched a Patriot League Tournament berth and will now await the results of Saturday's Patriot League slate to determine its playoff position. At 7-9 in league play, the Bison are a half-game behind fourth-place Army and a half-game ahead of Colgate, Loyola, and Holy Cross.

Klea Tarja led the Bison with 12 kills on a .417 hitting percentage followed by Cameron Lloyd and Sidney Shaffer. The three Bison combined for 34 of the team's 48 kills. Stephanie Eroh and Marion Haskell each had six kills.

Peyton McGee had 36 assists and Katie O'Sullivan led the Bison with 13 digs. Isabella Charlton had four aces in the match.

American's Prinzez Zeck led all players with 17 kills on a .542 hitting percentage. Elise Sterling had 12 kills, and Sophie Dufour and Carly Sciborski each had 10 kills.

Bucknell trailed 4-3 early in the first set before a 4-0 scoring run for American gave the Eagles an 8-3 lead and forced a Bison timeout. Bucknell came out of the timeout with a kill from Cameron Lloyd, but the Eagles answered with a 6-1 run.

A 4-0 run got the Bison back in the set, and the Bison later went on a 4-1 run that featured two kills each from Tarja and Lloyd to make it 18-14. The Eagles would eventually pull away with a 5-1 scoring run to take the first set 25-16.

American got out to an 11-6 lead to start the second set, but the Bison battled back with three straight points that included two kills from Lloyd to make it 11-9. The Bison stayed within a few points before making a 5-1 scoring run to take an 18-17 lead.

Kills from Stephanie Eroh and Lloyd helped the Bison take a 20-18 lead. The Bison capped off the set with a 4-0 run that included kills from Sidney Shaffer and Tarja to win the set 25-20.

It was a hot start for American taking a 6-1 lead in the third set. A kill for Marion Haskell sparked a 3-0 run as the Bison got back within two points. The Eagles took over the set with a 6-0 run to extend its lead to 18-9. The Bison brought it back to an 18-13 score with four straight points, but American answered with four straight of its own. The Eagles finished off the set with a 25-14 score to take a 2-1 lead.

It was a back-and-forth beginning to the fourth set with three lead changes as both teams were squared away at 10-10. The Eagles then went on a 4-0 run to take a 14-10 lead. The lead extended to 18-13 in the set, but the Bison fought back with a 6-1 run to tie the set 19-19. Both sides traded the next two points, but the Eagles ended it with five straight points to win the set 25-20.

Bucknell will know its opponent and location for its Patriot League quarterfinal matchup after Saturday's slate of games. The tournament starts on Tuesday with the 3-6 and 4-5 matchups at the home of the higher-seeded team.