WASHINGTON, D.C. - Lafayette volleyball dropped a 3-0 final on Saturday to American.
Auma Mbeche-Odhiambo followed her 17 kills against Navy with 15 against the Eagles. The junior outside hitter has reached double-digit kills in 11 of the 13 games she's appeared in. Setters Mackenzie Calhoun and LK LaMonica recorded 15 assists each, accounting for 30 of the Leopards' 36 assists. Defensively, libero Alyssa Chu notched 15 digs. The San Diego, Calif. Native leads the Patriot League with 234 digs this season.
American captured a first set win behind a 25-13 score. The Eagles hit .452 in the stanza, with 14 kills and no attack errors. Salme Hollas tallied six spikes, while Deniz Dakak added seven assists. Meanwhile, the Maroon and White notched 10 kills and four attack errors in the set, with Mbeche-Odhiambo responsible for four kills.
In set two, Lafayette picked up an early 6-4 lead prior to an Eagle five-point stretch (9-6). The hosts pulled away 19-14 towards the end of the period, but the Leopards answered with five-straight scores. The run featured three-consecutive kills from Mbeche-Odhiambo and a service ace from Destiny McKenzie. The two squads traded two-point spurts down the stretch before back-to-back kills from Sam McMillan granted American a 30-28 second set win.
The hosts secured a 31-29 third period win and 3-0 match victory behind stellar hitting from in the final stanza, with the Eagles swatting 22 kills for a .308 hitting percentage. Lafayette (17 kills, .255 hitting percentage) kept pace with Mbeche-Odhiambo (5) and Mckenzie (5) combining for 10 spikes. American's Hollas led the Eagles with seven kills, finishing the match with 16.
Lafayette returns home to College Hill on Oct. 2, hosting Holy Cross at 7 p.m. for its annual pink out game.
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