GARDEN CITY, New York- The American International College volleyball team and Southern Connecticut State University met in the Northeast-10 Championship Finals on Saturday, November 10.
FAST FACTS:
Final score:SCSU 3, AIC 0 (20-25, 18-25, 23-25)
Records:AIC moves to 21-11 overall; SCSU moves to 27-6 overall.
Location:Center for Recreation and Sport, Adelphi University Garden City, New York
STAT LEADERS:
AIC:
Jana Potic: 14 kills, seven digs
Andrea Serra: 11 kills seven digs
Diva Rivas-Reyes: seven kills, six digs
Dolores Kopren: 33 assists, eight digs
Evelyn Lopez: 11 digs
Amanda Rodriguez: 10 digs
SCSU:
Alyssa Gage: 14 kills, 11 digs
Gabriela Vazquez: 13 kills, five digs
Kailyn O'Neal: 31 assists, four digs
HOW IT HAPPENED:
- SCSU came out firing on all cylinders in the first set as they jumped ahead 10-1 and forced AIC to take both of their timeouts. The Yellow Jackets did not hang their heads as they fought back to make it 19-15 then 21-19. It was not enough as the Owls took the first set 25-20.
- In the second set, the Yellow Jackets jumped out into a 5-1 lead, but the Owls rallied back to take the 9-8 lead. Trailing 11-10, SCSU went on a 9-1 run to take the 19-12 lead before taking the set 25-18.
- The Owls jumped out to a 6-0 lead in the third set that they extended to 8-3. AIC then went on a tear of their own, an 11-4 run that gave them the 14-12 lead. Trailing 21-19, the Owls took the 22-21 advantage before the Yellow Jackets tied it at 22. The team traded a point each before the Owls used two kills to end the match.
BUZZWORTHY:
- The Yellow Jackets' appearance in the NE10 title is the first of the rally scoring era. The last time AIC made the finals was in 1996 when the beat Bentley University.
- The NE10 released their of the year awards winners on Wednesday, November 7. The Yellow Jackets headlined the awards as they took home three major awards. Junior outside hitter Jana Potic earned Player of the Year and first team honors. Senior setter Dolores Kopren was selected as Setter of the Year and was selected to first team all-conference. Sophomore Andrea Serra earned second-team honors. Rounding out the selections was head coachMatt Cribbinwith Coach of the Year honors.
- The NCAA announced its thirdregional rankings for the 2018 season on Wednesday, November 7. The Yellow Jackets were slotted sixth in the East Region. Leading the East Region was a NE10 foe, the University of New Haven, followed by Adelphi University. Daemen College and Molloy College are sitting in third and fourth, while Holy Family University is in fifth.
- Kopren recently passed Stephanie O'Brien in career assists, placing her second in program history.Kopren currently has 4,088 assists in just three seasons.
- Rivas-Reyesis the fifth player in AIC program history to pass 1,000 career kills. She currently sits in third place in program history with 1,264 kills while trailingEllisha Terry, who had 1,286 kills from 2008-11. Should Rivas-Reyes pass Terry, she would hold the rally scoring era program record.
- Junior outside hitterJana Poticrecorded her 1,000th career kill at Adelphi on September 29. Currently, Potic has 1,242 kills, which is good enough for fifth place in program history. With her performance against The College of Saint Rose, she jumped Sarah Neaves, who had 1,148 kills, for fourth place. She now trails her teammate Rivas-Reyes for third place.
- Potic jumped ahead of Rivas-Reyes in total points in program history on October 2 at Franklin Pierce. Potic recently pasted Neaves in total points. She currently has 1,443.5, with Rivas-Reyes right behind her with 1,344.5 career points. Potic is now chasingEllisha Terry, who had 1,487.5 points from 2008-11. Should Potic pass Terry, she would hold the rally scoring era program record.
NEXT UP:
- The Yellow Jackets await the NCAA Selection Show which will air tomorrow, Sunday, November 11 at 10 p.m.
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