WEST HAVEN, Connecticut - The No. 6-seeded American International College volleyball team returned to the NCAA East Region Championship for the second straight year, this year against the No. 1-seeded University of New Haven. The Chargers were too much for the Yellow Jackets as New Haven punched its ticket to Pensacola, Florida for the Elite Eight in three sets.
FAST FACTS:
FINAL SCORE: No. 1 New Haven 3, No. 6 AIC 0 (19-25, 9-25, 18-25)
RECORDS:AIC's season comes to an end with a 23-11 overall record, while New Haven advances to the Elite Eight with a 26-7 record overall.
LOCATION: Charger Gym, West Haven, Connecticut
STAT LEADERS:
AIC:
Annie Boele: 10 kills ,10 digs
Diva Rivas-Reyes: 10 kills
Dolores Kopren: 29 assists, seven digs
Mercy Rivera: 12 digs
New Haven:
Caroline Martins: 17 kills, nine digs
Kali Greathead: Seven kills, eight digs
Mallory Nowicki: Seven kills
HOW IT HAPPENED:
- AIC jumped out to a 7-4 lead before the Chargers came back and took the 10-8 lead, forcing head coach Matt Cribbin to call his first timeout. New Haven increased its lead to 12-9 before the Yellow Jackets broke out of single digits. Up 20-17, the Chargers went on a 5-2 run to finish the set, winning 25-19.
- The Chargers dominated the second set, holding the Yellow Jackets to single-digit points, a feat that no one else was able to achieve this season. The Chargers took the second set by a score of 25-9.
- The Chargers started out the set on another tear, jumping out to a 5-1 lead. AIC fought back and cut its deficit down to just one, 11-10, but the Chargers continued to roll, taking the set, 25-18, and the match, 3-0.
GAME NOTES:
- Three Yellow Jackets were named to the NCAA East Region Championship team: Senior Annie Boele, junior Diva Rivas-Reyes and sophomore Jana Potic.
- The Yellow Jackets now have three current players in the program Top 10 list for kills. Rivas-Reyes is sitting in sixth place with 930, Boele is in seventh place with 898, and Potic is in ninth at 815.
- With a dig in the fifth set of the quarterfinal match against LIU Post, Boele became just the 11thplayer in program history to record 1,000 career digs. She ends her AIC career with 1,023 digs.
- Senior Mercy Rivera became the program career leader in digs during October 17'smatch against Southern Connecticut State. Rivera's dig on the final play of the game proved to be the record-breaking dig.
- On October 28 against Roberts Wesleyan, Rivera became the first player in program history to surpass the 2,000 digs club. She ends her career with 2,169 digs.
- Kopren now ranks third all-time in program history in assists. She currently has 2,853 career assists and is 986 behind Stephanie O'Brien, who has 3,839.
STAY CONNECTED:
- For more updates about the AIC volleyball team, follow@AICvbonTwitterand likeAIC VolleyballonFacebook. For updates on all AIC Yellow Jackets teams, follow@AICAthleticsonTwitterandInstagram, and likeAIC Yellow JacketsonFacebook.
