Wilmington, Delaware- The American International Yellow Jackets returned to action in the Wildcat Invitational on September 10 with two matches, the first with Bloomfield College and the second with Holy Family University. The 'Jackets squeaked the first match out 3-2 then routed Holy Family 3-0. The 8-1 record is the best start for American International since the 1997 season when the Yellow Jackets started out 7-2.

Bloomfield
The Yellow Jackets and Bears battled back and forth throughout the match but the Yellow Jackets took the five set victory by scores of 25-23, 23-25, 25-19, 21-25, and 15-13.

American International and Bloomfield alternated winning sets in the first four sets. The Yellow Jackets took the first and third, while the Bears took the second and the much needed fourth set.

The fifth set was one of the most intense sets of the season for the Yellow Jackets. The Bears started the set off by taking five of the first six points before the Yellow Jackets made a run. Down four points, a kill by Caitlin Sobolewski started a 5-0 run that forced the Bears' coach to call a timeout. The run would not stop there as the Yellow Jackets took three of the next four points to give them the 9-6 edge over the Bears.

The Bears made a comeback as they tied it at 13. Coach Matt Cribbin took a timeout to help refocus his squad. The strategic timeout worked, as the Yellow Jackets took the next two points to win the match and improve to 7-1.

For the second time this season the Yellow Jackets had four players with double digit kills. Diva Rivas-Reyes led the way with 21 kills and 22 points. Jana Potic chipped in 18 kills and five blocks. Lauren Pires recorded 12 kills while Caitlin Sobolewski rounded the double figures off with 11. Annie Boele needed just one more kill to reach the double digit kills club and the double-double as she had 19 digs in the match.

Holy Family
Coming into the match the Yellow jackets had a 7-1 record as they went up against the 3-6 Tigers of Holy Family University. The Yellow Jackets took the match in straight sets 25-18, 25-13, and 25-19.

The Yellow Jackets swung a season high .316 as they finished with 41 kills and only 11 attack errors. Due to the shortness of the match the Yellow Jackets only had one athlete finish with double digit kills, Pires with 11. Potic and Boele produced nine kills each while Rivas tallied six.

The Yellow Jackets return to action on Tuesday for their first home game against the University of Bridgeport. The first serve is scheduled for 7 p.m.