SPRINGFIELD, Mass.--The American International College volleyball team took a 3-1 victory over the Ohio Valley University Scots and followed it with the same final over their conference rival, the Pace Setters, to complete a perfect first day at the International Volleyball Hall of Fame Invitational.

AIC improves to 6-4 on the season, with no games yet counted as in-conference.

"[It was] great to see us compete with high level volleyball. We had the goal of producing a lot of our own points and minimizing the errors, and I think we did a good job of that," said Head Coach Matt Cribbin after the second match. "We don't have a lot of experience with playing together yet, but the process is coming along and the future is bright for AIC Volleyball."

In the first set of the early match, the Jackets jumped out to an early 10-4, but the Scots battled back to tie the contest 17-17. It was there that AIC took advantage of three errors by the visiting squad, along with an ace by junior middle blocker Caitlin Sobolewski (Guilford, Conn.) to gain the decisive edge, scoring eight of the final nine in the set, punctuating the win on a kill by senior outside hitter Bailey Swan (Belvidere, Ill.)

However, it was all Scots in set two, as they swung down for 12 kills against just two errors, flying out to an early 10-2 lead and cruised to a 25-12 win; sophomore outside hitter Alyx Henry (Norwalk, Calif.) had a pair of kills and a pair of aces in the set. AIC rebounded nicely in the third set, taking the first six points in the game on the strength of three kills by junior outside hitter Natalija Dordevic (Belgrade, Serbia), and pulled away in the middle of the set thanks to another long run that had five kills by four different players as part of seven straight points, ultimately taking the set 25-20.

In the fourth set, it looked like the Scots would be able to force another tie, leading 24-22. However, Dordevic struck for three kills out of the next four points to put AIC up 26-25, and then Sobolewski and junior middle blocker Andrea Dillon (Vermillion, Ohio) provided the decisive final block to win the set and match.

The Jackets came out blazing in the second match, and it was clear that Dordevic would be key in the match as she picked up two early kills, but the offense was spread around in the set that saw AIC ring up 16 kills to just four errors in a 25-18 victory.

As with the first match, it was the opposing side that got the better of set number two, with Pace pulling out a 25-23 win, with three kills from three different players after the score hit 22-22. AIC came back to dominate the third set, thanks largely to an eight point run that extended a 15-10 lead to 23-10, keyed by kills from Dordevic and Sobolewski, with the final point of the set delivered by Swan.

The fourth and final set went to AIC as well, 25-18, as Dordevic was able to finish off the Setters with five kills late in the set among her match-high 19; she also tied for the match high with four block assists.

AIC plays twice more tomorrow, with Dowling on the docket for 2:00 p.m. and Angelo State set for a 4:00 p.m. start, though the second match's start will depend on the timing of the first.