SPRINGFIELD, Mass. The American International College volleyball team battled Northeast-10 leading Adelphi to a tightly contested five-set loss Saturday afternoon at Butova Gymnasium.
With the loss AIC falls to 8-9 overall and 2-4 in conference matches, while with the win Adelphi improved to 15-4 and 6-0 in the NE-10 this season.
The Yellow Jackets took the first set, 25-22, but fell to the Panthers in the next two, 22-25, 21-25. Down 2-1 in the match, AIC came away with a dominant fourth set, 25-20, but could not contain AU in the fifth and deciding set, falling 12-15.
The Jackets opened the match with a big block party, notching four of their first eight points off blocks of Panther attacks. Junior outside hitter Natalija Dordevic (Belgrade, Serbia) and classmate middle blocker Lauren Pires (Dartmouth, Mass.) each assisted on three blocks in the early going.
After Adelphi knotted the set at 15 all, the score was then tied five more times in the later stages of the match. AIC used a 5-2 run to take the first set using two kills from Dordevic and a kill from Pires. Dordevic paced the Yellow Jackets in that set with six kills and four blocks.
In the second set, Adelphi wasted no time trying to steal back momentum on the road, opening the set, 4-0. The Yellow Jacket responded and made it nine all with a Diva Rivas-Reyes (Tucson, Ariz.) kill.
The second set went back-and-forth from there, but a 7-2 run downed AIC, ending with a Yellow Jacket service error. The Panthers led by as many as seven in the third and won the set, putting American International on the ropes heading into the fourth frame.
In the fourth set, AIC pounced on the Panthers early, 14-4, using a good mix of sophomore outside Annie Boele (Clovis, Calif.), Rivas-Reyes and Dordevic.
AU gave the Jackets a scare, closing a 24-15 gap to within five, but Pires got up and put it down to force a deciding fifth set.
In the final frame, AIC trailed 11-6, but a Pires kill and three Panther miscues brought AIC right back in it, down 11-10, however, Adelphi regained composure and finished off the pesky Yellow Jackets, 12-15.
For the second straight match, AIC had five players with double-digit kills totals, led by Dordevic's 14. Rivas-Reyes notched 13, Boele 11 and Pires and junior middle hitter Caitlin Sobolewski (Guilford, Conn.) registered 10 kills apiece.
Dordevic hit .314 with just three errors in five sets. The junior remains in first place in kill percentage in the NE-10 with 3.83 kills-per-set.
Freshman Roxana Wenger (Giph-Oberfrick, Switzerland) set a career-high in assists with 53, one more than her output against Pace on Sep. 18. She averaged 52.0 assists in two matches this week. Sophomore libero Mercy Rivera (Canovanas, P.R.) made a team-high 33 digs.
AIC returns to action Tuesday, Oct. 20 when they travel to Assumption for an NE-10 tilt with the Greyhounds. First serves is slated for 6 p.m. from Worcester, Mass.
