SPRINGFIELD, Mass. The American International College volleyball team rallied for a five-set win over Saint Michael's Friday night in Northeast-10 action at Butova Gymnasium.
With the win AIC improves to 12-9 overall and 6-4 in NE-10 play, while with the loss St. Mike's falls to 11-8 and 4-5 in conference matches.
The Yellow Jackets stretched their win streak to four straight with a hard fout, come from behind victory over the Purple Knights Friday. After winning the first set, 25-19, St. Mike's got momentum and took the next two sets, 25-13 and 25-21. The Jackets responded with a 25-21 fourth set win and dominated the decisive fifth set, 15-4. American International improves to 4-1 in five-set matches this season and their four game win streak is the first for them since the 2012 season.
After dropping two straight sets and falling to 2-1 in the match, AIC came out firing in the fourth. Freshman setter Roxana Wenger (Giph-Oberfrick, Switzerland), who has a habit of serving up early set points, got AIC out to a 6-1 lead.
Wenger notched three straight assists with a kill from classmate Diva Rivas-Reyes (Tucson, Ariz.) and a pair from junior Natalija Dordevic (Belgrade, Serbia) to go along with multiple St. Mike's errors.
AIC went up by as many as six and held the lead throughout the set to claim the 25-21 win and force a fifth frame.
In the final set the Yellow Jackets jumped out early. Wenger served up the first two points, a Rivas-Reyes kill and a service ace of her own before the Knights made it 2-1 with a Kelsey Flaherty kill.
After that AIC went on a tear, rattling off eight straight points to take a commanding 10-1 advantage. Dordevic added a few late kills down the stretch and AIC clawed their way to another victory.
Wenger, who has eclipsed 50 assists now in 5-of-6 matches, set a new career high with 56. Dordevic and Rivas-Reyes each totaled 29 and 20 kills respectively, while sophomore Annie Boele (Clovis, Calif.) recorded 14 kills.
Yellow Jacket sophomore libero Mercy Rivera (Canovanas, P.R.) made 34 digs, while Dordevic and junior Caitlin Sobolewski (Guilford, Conn.) each registered four total blocks apiece.
AIC returns to action Tuesday, Nov. 3 when they look to knock off New Haven for the first time in NE-10 play. First serve is slated for 7 p.m. from Butova Gymnasium.
